


Last One

by Texan_Red_Rose



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Horror, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:47:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22452910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Texan_Red_Rose/pseuds/Texan_Red_Rose
Summary: Yang recently joined her girlfriend in Atlas. She has a temp job with a tutoring agency while waiting for her teacher's certification to be approved and everything is looking up. Then, she gets called in to cover for a sick co-worker, and steps into something that could very well be the death of her.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Winter Schnee/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 51
Kudos: 73





	1. The Job

**Author's Note:**

> So, I posed the question of whether or not I could write a horror story. I was encouraged to find out. This is the result. Let me know whether I hit the mark or not; I think this works better as a mystery than a horror story but I tried. New genres are fun!

Yang drew in a deep breath, trying to acclimate herself to the cooler temperatures of late autumn in Atlas. Having only moved to the kingdom a few months prior, she found the adaptation curve a bit… steep. Despite the similarities from sharing a global culture, there were some nuances to Atlas as a kingdom that she hadn’t really gotten used to quite yet, and the climate was just one of them.

She was acclimating, though, bit by bit. Yang had secured a job, settled in with her girlfriend alright, and even made a few new friends. Kept in touch with her old ones, of course- Blake and Weiss touched base every week, Ruby every other day, Coco and Velvet when they could, Ren and Nora- but had a lot of things going for her now. Things… were looking up.

As her train pulled into the station, Yang shifted the bag on her shoulder and waited for the door to open. Normally, she’d want to ride her motorcycle to work, but that chill in the air cut straight through even her thickest jacket; definitely something she’d have to leave for the warmer months. It bummed her out but it was worth it, in the end.

Yang stepped onto the train as her scroll began to ring, fishing it out of her bag while standing off to one side and grabbing one of the overhead handholds. A smile curled her lips as she read the contact name, flicking open her scroll to see her girlfriend’s visage. “Hey, Snowdrift.”

“Good morning, Sundrop.” Winter smiled wide, light in her eyes as the line connected. “On your way to work?”

“I am.” She turned the screen, showing the station as a few more commuters stepped on before the doors closed. “How’s your day going so far?”

“Tediously. I’m not a fan of paperwork.” Her expression scrunched up, in that way Yang took to mean ‘I say I don’t like it but I kinda do, but I don’t want to admit that because it’s lame’ and that made her smother a chuckle every time she saw it. “Unfortunately, I’ve got a few meetings today and by the sounds of it, the majority will run long, so I’m going to be late coming home.”

“That’s alright. It sounds like it’ll be a late night for me, too.” She shrugged. “Sounds like one of the other tutors called in sick and I have to cover down. Don’t really know how long it’s gonna take; Mr. Ozpin explained it to me like the kid doesn’t go to school at all, so I’ve got  _ a lot _ of subjects to cover.”

A frown touched her girlfriend’s lips. “Are you sure this is what you want to do? I know teaching is your dream, Sundrop, but this doesn’t seem to be exactly what you had in mind.”

“It’s not long term, and they know that.” Again, she couldn’t help but shrug, brushing off the woman’s concern. “I’d rather have  _ something _ to do while I wait for Atlas to approve my teaching license and this homeschooling thing is the only agency that recognizes Vale’s certification.”

“Which, honestly, is ridiculous.” Winter’s expression shifted into what Yang would call a pout, though she would only do so teasingly. “It’s a standardized test across the five kingdoms; why Atlas  _ insists _ on a separate validation is beyond me.”

At that, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Do you want the  _ honest _ answer or the  _ nice _ answer?”

“Just because we both  _ know _ why doesn’t mean I can’t express my vexation with it.” Her annoyance slid away, blue eyes glancing off to the side before rolling. “Ah, it appears I am needed. Let me know if you need anything; depending on who gets home first, picking up dinner or delivery might be the best option.”

Yang raised a brow. “Already tired of my cooking?” 

“Oh, don’t you start.” Despite the light reprimand, Winter smiled softly. “I adore your cooking but I  _ also _ adore cuddling, and neither of us will rest if there are dishes that need washing.”

“Hmmm, keep sweet-talking me and I won’t be able to focus on lessons.”

“Well, we can’t have that, now.” Glancing around, the woman raised her other hand to her mouth and blew a kiss. “I love you, Sundrop.”

“Love you, too, Snowdrift.” She waved. “I’ll call you if I get a break.”

As she collapsed her scroll back down, Yang’s gaze caught on her reflection in the train’s window. Granted, she probably didn’t look as ‘professional’ as most private tutors would; a nice set of black slacks, a white button up, a purple tie that complemented her eyes rather nicely, and some good leather shoes got her  _ close _ but she’d never been able to tame her hair, the blonde strands curling and sticking out every which way. It didn’t look like she hadn’t brushed it, just that her style tended towards ‘wild’ which… while not  _ entirely _ inaccurate, wasn’t the whole truth, either. Add to that her slightly crooked nose from a boxing match in her youth and a stature that better suited the common perception of a bodybuilder than a teacher- basically, she didn’t blame people for being skeptical when she introduced herself as having her teacher’s license in Vale and a master’s from Beacon University to boot.

She ran a hand through her hair, trying to tame it just a bit as the train rattled down the tracks, passing through one of the few tunnels on this route. Before she could head to the house, she had to stop by the office and get the full details from Mr. Ozpin regarding the job itself. He hadn’t explained much over the phone, seeing as this came across as an emergency of some sort, but she imagined there’d be more information when she reached the home office. Since Yang only had one regular client, her work thus far had centered mostly on group sessions at a private school on the north side of the city, where the upper crust lived.

Yang cleared her throat and straightened out her tie, trying to keep her nerves from getting the better of her. Among some of the differences in Atlas she’d encountered, the differences between upper class and middle class were… stark. Generally, people stuck to their ‘side of the fence’, which she didn’t really get, considering Vale’s far more lax social structure.

Every time she started thinking about how she would never ‘fit in’ or ‘pass’ among Atlas’ social elite, she remembered that her girlfriend was not only born in that environment, she was raised to be near the top of the social ladder and walked away from it of her own volition. It made her feel so  _ lucky _ , because beneath some of her rougher edges and her cool demeanor, Winter was passionate and warm and beautiful and she couldn’t imagine where she’d be without their paths crossing.

Aside from, well,  _ warmer _ , but that was a minor thing.

Once she got to her stop, Yang hopped off the train and made her way to the office building. The agency she worked for owned only a small section of the building multiplex, containing only a few full time positions and three conference rooms for meetings. It paid well enough, even if it wasn’t what she wanted to be doing. She considered it a stepping stone to the life she  _ wanted _ to build in Atlas.

Opening the glass door with the agency’s name on it- Maiden Education, a silly pun she could appreciate- Yang went to the doorway leading into Mr. Ozpin’s office and politely knocked on the doorjamb.

“Hmmm?” Mr. Ozpin turned, green eyes lighting up upon seeing her. “Ah, Miss Xiao Long, come in. Thank you for understanding; this is… a unique situation.”

“It’s no problem; I’m happy to help,” she replied, stepping into the small office and sitting down. Mr. Ozpin’s desk was a haphazard collection of papers, just barely shuffled into piles, and his shaggy silvered hair bespoke of a charmingly frazzled appearance. It was one of the reasons she opted to take the job; she rather liked having someone who understood that life happened and appearances weren’t everything. “So, what’s the skinny?”

“This is one of our more… unique clients, to put it simply.” He shuffled a few papers before pulling out a folder from one of the stacks and opening it up. “They recently moved to Atlas and, up until now, Ms. Goodwitch had been handling their case.”

That surprised Yang more than the call asking her to cover down. “Wait, Glynda? She’s sick? I thought nothing short of a natural disaster could stop  _ her _ from coming into work.”

Glynda Goodwitch had overseen her short probationary period with the agency. Strict, terse, and exacting, the woman exuded the confidence of an experienced and unflappable teacher who’d seen it all  _ and _ done it all. She honestly couldn’t imagine how sick she had to be to stay home.

“Frankly, I’m  _ assuming _ she’s sick; I haven’t been able to get her on the phone and she usually stops by the office before heading out to this particular house.” He sighed. “This isn’t like her, but she’s confided in me within the past two weeks, and I have reason to believe her absence is health related.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Worry pinched her brow. “I hope she’s alright.”

“I do, too.” Mr. Ozpin shook his head, then glanced down at the file. “At any rate, the house is on the north side of town- quite remote. I’m afraid your scroll will have spotty reception at best.”

She cringed. “Damn, I guess I should’ve rode to work this morning. I took the train.”

“Not to worry; you can use my car for today. I likely won’t be leaving, considering how much paperwork I’ve yet to do.” He gestured at one of the stacks and she had to assume that was his ‘to-do’ pile. “Once you arrive, you’ll meet with your students: Roman, Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald.”

“Okay. I can work with four kids. What are their ages?”

“Ah, no, they’re all adults- orphans who banded together and formed something of a family. They’ve come to Atlas to start a new life and need assistance studying for the equivalency exams.”

That set her at ease a bit; while her specialty leaned more heavily into sciences, Yang had just completed her own equivalency exam so she could submit for her license, so she more than understood all the red tape involved. “I can see why you called me.”

“Honestly, I debated on giving you these clients initially, but I thought it might be a  _ bit _ too much for you to start with.” Mr. Ozpin gave her an apologetic look. “Ms. Goodwitch is one of my longest-standing employees and an excellent educator; she’d dealt with similar clients in the past, I’m sure you understand.”

“Oh, I don’t take any offense.” She chuckled, waving off his explanation. “She’s definitely one of the best colleagues I’ve ever worked with.”

Mr. Ozpin smiled and nodded, folding up the file and holding it out to her. “Here, take this just in case. Ms. Goodwitch has their lesson plans outlined here; you’ll spend two hours with all four of them, then thirty minutes with each. After you’ve completed their tutoring, come back here and I’ll drive you home.”

Yang accepted the file with a smile. “Sounds pretty straightforward. I won’t let you down, Mr. Ozpin.”

“I’m sure you won’t.”

With the file and Mr. Ozpin’s keys in hand, Yang headed for the door. While she hoped Ms. Goodwitch’s health improved, she saw this as an opportunity to prove herself in a sense. If she could continue tutoring the family until Ms. Goodwitch returned, it would surely look good on her resume when her license finally came through. As she jumped into Mr. Ozpin’s car, she sent a quick text apprising Winter of the situation, just so the woman wouldn’t worry. Then, she plugged in the address and studied the map just in case her scroll lost signal before she got there. Within a few minutes, she had a pretty solid grasp on where she was going, pulling out of Mr. Ozpin’s spot and heading towards the north side of the city.

* * *

About half an hour later, Yang pulled up in front of a rather spacious mansion- not entirely uncommon for the northern side of Atlas- and let out a low whistle as she put the car into park. It reminded her of her girlfriend’s childhood home, which she’d only visited a handful of times. Winter and Weiss both complained about how all the space made them feel crushingly alone and both sought to escape it, though she imagined the sisters had a very different life experience than her four prospective students. For four people who didn’t have any family aside from each other, having such a large place to call their home might give them a sense of security or peace.

The woman got out of the car with her bag and the file securely within, taking a deep breath to settle her nerves before starting towards the door.

However, her step faltered as she took another look at the house and noticed something… odd. From the ground level, it looked like some of the second floor windows were broken while others were boarded up or obscured in some manner. The first floor looked better but every curtain was drawn shut which seemed… strange. Then again, she was the sort of person who loved letting natural sunlight illuminate a room. Still, it seemed strange that such a large house sat in a state of relative disrepair with four people living inside. Maybe they were trying to renovate it?

No matter what justification she offered within the privacy of her own mind, Yang had to put all that aside and present herself the same way Ms. Goodwitch would. From the trials and internships she’d taken as part of her teaching degree, she understood that anyone familiar with a teacher suddenly subjected to someone different had an ingrained reaction to distrust the newcomer; as long as she didn’t make waves, she’d be able to continue with the lesson plans Ms. Goodwitch had set forth without trouble.

After she marshaled her thoughts, though, she then took a few more steps forward and saw the front door slightly ajar. 

Alarm bells began to ring, putting her on high alert. A reasonable explanation pushed to the forefront of her mind- they were expecting Ms. Goodwitch, so they might leave the door open for her and just hadn’t closed it when she was running late- but that didn’t ease the sudden anxiety curling in the pit of her stomach. This just all seemed so... strange.

“Hello?” she called out while slowly advancing to the door, peering inside. From what she could tell, nothing looked too out of place- no sign of a struggle within the expansive foyer- but that didn’t exactly mean much, considering the size of the house. Between the remote location and lack of scroll service, she felt reasonably confident that there hadn’t been some sort of burglary; aside from the car Mr. Ozpin lent her, there wasn’t another around for miles. “I’m from the Maiden Education Agency. Ms. Goodwitch wasn’t able to make it today, so…”

When no answer came, she carefully pushed the front door open a bit further and stepped into the mansion.

The interior looked like it was in the process of being updated, with a fresh coat of paint in a few places and crumbling wallpaper elsewhere. A few boxes sat by the staircase leading up to the second floor, next to some cans of paint and rollers leaning up against the banister. A coat rack on one side of the foyer had a white coat and black bowler hung on two of the pegs, plus a pink umbrella on the third peg, which seemed to indicate  _ someone _ was home.

“Hello?” She took a few more cautious steps into the foyer, trying to check around the corners. Every now and again, Winter would show her videos of the training exercises she conducted with the Atlesian military, and she tried to apply those principles now. Listening intently, she crept to the doorway leading towards what she assumed to be the living room, peeking into the room carefully.

What she saw confused her. On the one hand, it looked like a living room or den in the middle of being remodeled, but the way things were strewn about didn’t seem like they had a purpose or plan. It looked like a mess.

Before she could enter the room, she caught the sound of a stifled cry coming from behind her, prompting her to look back around and into the room on the other side of the foyer. Judging by the size, it probably served a similar purpose- a living room or den or something- but it hadn’t been remodeled yet, just new furniture set inside a room with crumbling wallpaper and discolored carpet. Two couches, a loveseat, a few arm chairs, and a coffee table sat in the middle of the room, away from the walls, as if in preparation for the walls to be repainted.

“Is anyone there?” She tried again, moving towards the other room. “I’m Ms. Xiao Long, from the Maiden Education Agency. I’m subbing for Ms. Goodwitch.”

Again, she heard the stifled cry, and followed the sound to its source, looking behind the couch and finding a young woman probably close to her age, curled up with her knees hugged to her chest. Yang slowly lowered herself down onto one knee and softened her voice.

“Hey, my name’s Yang. Are you Emerald?” She looked like the picture from the file but… rougher, mint green hair that fell to her shoulders looking unwashed and unkempt, her shirt and jeans ripped and dirty. “Hey?”

When she reached out and touched the woman’s shoulder, she flinched and looked at Yang then with wide, terrified red eyes, tears streaking her dirty cheeks. The moment she seemed to register that there was someone there, though, a bit of light came back to her eyes. “Who are you?”

“Yang, Yang Xiao Long. I’m subbing for Ms. Goodwitch.” She took a glance around. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Gone,” she replied, her hands trembling as her gaze shifted up, looking towards the ceiling. “They’re… they’re all gone. It’s just me.”

Yang’s brows furrowed, looking towards the ceiling briefly. “Is there a landline? Some way to call for help?”

“No one can help me now.” Emerald started shaking her head as fresh tears sprang to her eyes. “She left me for last.” Then, she grabbed Yang’s arm, clutching at her feebly. “Don’t look her in the eyes. That’s when she comes for you- that’s when she knows she has you.  _ Don’t _ look her in the eyes.”

“Who? Who is ‘she’?” Although the grip on her arm didn’t hurt, it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, as if her entire body could sense there was something not right about the woman before her.

“I-I don’t know, we never learned her name. We just-”

_ Thunk _ .

Yang looked back up to the ceiling, furrowing her brows. It sounded like something heavy had been dropped on the floor above them but, if they were the only ones there, then what had dropped and how? Emerald released her arm, curling back in on herself and crying softly.

Whatever had happened here, Yang quickly surmised she needed some help. Reaching into her bag, she retrieved her scroll to find it had no signal. With a frown, she stood up and looked around, spotting what looked like a wall-mounted vid screen in the next room over. With any luck, that had a landline connection and she could call for help.

Moving into the next room, she saw more evidence of the remodeling in progress- a dining room set and rolls of carpet, more paint cans and spare lumber- but thankfully found the vid screen had a connection. Dialing Atlas’ emergency services line, Yang waited for the operator to connect the call while looking up at the ceiling.

“Atlas Emergency Response, where is your emergency?”

That pulled her gaze back to the screen, finding one of Atlas’ finest staring at the screen. Quickly, she gave the address and a brief explanation of why she was there and what she’d found, glancing over to the living room to find Emerald still curled up behind the couch. After being assured police and medical services were on the way, the call ended and Yang considered going outside to wait for them.

“Hey, Emerald?” She went back to the living room and knelt down beside the woman again, keeping her voice soft. “Why don’t we go outside, yeah? Help is on the way; you’re gonna be okay.”

“No, no, no.” With a shake of her head, red eyes focused again on the ceiling. “I can’t run anymore. It won’t work.”

“Emerald, listen, it’s okay-”

_ Thunk. _

She looked at the ceiling, brows furrowed as the woman’s crying renewed.

“Emerald, is there anyone else here?”

“No. Just me. I’m the last one.” She drew in a shuddering breath. “The last one.”

“Then what was that noise?”

Emerald slowly shook her head and hugged herself tighter, crying more fervently. 

Yang stood up. Whatever had happened, obviously the woman wouldn’t recover for a long time. 

Lilac eyes strayed towards the ceiling, curiosity nipping at her. “Emerald, are you the last one  _ here _ ? Or the last one  _ alive _ ?” When no answer came, she looked back to the woman, who watched her with terror. “Nod if the first one.” She didn’t. “Nod for the second.”

Slowly, Emerald nodded, confirming Yang’s suspicion.

Okay, so the others had died on the second floor, and finding them dead had scared Emerald shitless.

But… what was that sound, then?

“Are you  _ sure _ they’re dead?”

“They’re gone.”

“Emerald-”

“They’re  _ gone _ .”

Yang sighed, glancing back towards the ceiling. On the one hand, she could wait until the cops showed up and hope they’d tell her that there was nothing she could have done. On the other, she could go up there and confirm for herself. Otherwise, she’d always wonder if she’d waited outside while someone slowly died on the second floor.

Pulling out her scroll, Yang flicked it over to the camera setting to start a recording. Just in case the cops had any questions about what she had touched. Then, she started for the main staircase, taking the first step cautiously.

“Don’t look her in the eyes,” Emerald said, still hiding behind the couch.

“Right.” 

With a heavy sigh, she continued up the stairs, seeing more signs of the deteriorating walls and holding her scroll to document her journey to the second floor. Once she reached the landing, Yang looked both ways down the hall, finding several doors slightly ajar. She turned right, heading down that way seeing as it was above the living room where Emerald was still huddled. The floorboards beneath her feet creaked and groaned, just as she imagined an old mansion would, but that didn’t settle her nerves any.

As she reached the last room on the left, directly above where she’d been standing in the living room, a stench hit her nose that made her gag. On some level, she realized that the smell alone confirmed no one inside the room was alive, but her conscience wouldn’t rest without seeing it with her own two eyes.

So, against her better judgement, Yang pushed open the door.

She swallowed hard as her heart pounded in her chest, her body breaking out in a cold sweat.

Two corpses lay lifelessly on the ground, their eyes open wide in their final death stare. One of them a man- Roman, with orange hair just like his picture- and the other a woman, with pink and brown strands framing her face, and heterochromatic eyes that matched her dual colored hair. Both of them had crumpled to the floor, heads at odd angles with ropes around their necks. Looking up, Yang saw a wooden beam stretching from one side of the room to the other, rope still tied in two places above the bodies. They were both dressed rather well, as if they’d been preparing to go out for a night on the town among the upper crust.

Now, they were dead. Lying there, motionless.

“I’m sorry,” she said, pulling the door closed and shaking herself. Passing a hand over her face, she wiped away the sweat that had formed on her brow and turned around, spotting another door. While she didn’t know anything about the woman with heterochromia, she’d accounted for two of the four people she knew resided in the house. That still left two for her to find.

Going across the hall, she pushed the door open while holding her breath, relieved when she stepped into an empty bedroom with a few sleeping bags laid out on cots. The next two rooms she checked were similarly devoid of people- one had a mass of furniture collected in the middle and the other completely barren- but the third on the other side of the hall from the staircase made her gut clench.

It looked like Mercury, with well-groomed silver hair, his eyes wide open while his body slumped against the far wall in yet another empty room. Given the angle of his head, his neck was snapped by something, though he didn’t have a rope to explain how he’d died. He was wearing jeans and a jacket, both well worn, and heavy boots- he looked like he might’ve been working on painting the room before whatever happened to him, considering the ladder nearby.

“What the fuck,” she said, her voice soft as she closed the door. With the empty rooms she’d left the doors open, to make it easier for the cops when they arrived. A numbness started spreading through her as she mechanically walked to the next few rooms, leaving their doors open. When she came to the last at the end of the hall, she had a feeling she knew exactly what she would find, but opened it anyway.

Unlike the other rooms, this one was entirely furnished and remodeled. Dark red on the walls, black carpet, and a four-poster bed- the interior decor choices unnerved her almost as much as the woman’s stare, raven hair cascading over her shoulder as she hung there, knees just an inch or so shy of the edge of the bed, rope around her neck connected to a wire frame for the canopy overhead. She wore a black robe over a red nightgown, as if she was just getting ready for bed when…

Even without make-up or a smirk, Yang recognized the woman as Cinder, the last of the unaccounted-for orphans.

She hit the button on her scroll, stopping the recording as she pulled the door closed. Her hand trembled but she tried to keep a hold on herself, stumbling back towards the staircase landing. In the distance, through the broken mirrors, she could hear the approaching sirens of the police or the ambulance, only one of which was actually needed. Yang moved closer to one of the windows, the broken one, seeing as the other was covered almost in its entirety.

Carefully, mindful of the jagged edges of the glass, she watched as patrol cars began winding their way towards the manor with an ambulance following closely. Soon, the cops would be here and start sorting through… whatever had happened. Even having seen it with her own eyes, she couldn’t begin to process it. Too numb from the shock of it all. 

Four people dead, and one half crazed for some reason.

As she started to turn away, she caught something in the broken glass. A reflection of the landing behind her, but there was someone standing there. Short hair and a cloak of some sort? Yang turned, expecting to find Emerald, but instead saw a woman with brown hair and garish bruises on her neck, expression twisted by rage, and wide brown eyes. She opened her mouth and screamed, a terrifying sound that came out strangled and broken and screeching and Yang jumped back while putting her hands over her ears, trying to make it stop.

When it did, she took shuddering breaths while looking at the top of the staircase. The woman wasn’t there anymore but a little red book sat on the top step where she’d been standing.

“Who the fuck…” She looked around, unsure of where the strange woman had gone, and cautiously made her way to the staircase. Kneeling down, she picked up the book- a diary, by the looks of it- as the sounds of sirens drew closer. She shoved it in her bag while hurrying down the steps, turning into the living room to grab Emerald so they could both get out of the house before that strange woman-

Yang came to a dead stop, her heart stuttering in her chest as her eyes went wide.

From the center of the ceiling, a rope extended down, though she couldn’t tell where it was anchored. Then again, she wasn’t really looking, more fixated on Emerald’s dead stare as she hung lifelessly, the rope around her throat tight until- for some reason- it detached from its anchor point and she fell, crashing onto the coffee table below.

Immediately, Yang turned and booked it out the front door, tripping on the doorway in her haste and having to catch herself with her hands, her legs never stopping. She somehow got back to her feet and ran to the other side of Mr. Ozpin’s car, turning around to ensure no one had followed her out even as she heard the patrol cars and ambulance come up behind her, pulling through the circular drive.

As she desperately tried to catch her breath, lilac eyes roved over the house, stopping at the window she’d looked out on the second floor. There, she saw the strange woman again, watching her for a moment and gone in a blink of an eye. Yet, even with her gone, Yang could still feel herself being watched.

Even as the cops got out of their cars, even as the paramedics came to check her out, even as she stuttered and stumbled through her explanation of what happened, she could feel it.

She was being watched.


	2. The Diary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, the fluffy part of the horror story.

Yang sat cradling her head in her hands, the handcuffs around her wrists a cold reminder of her reality. Despite her claims, the police didn’t find her version of the events very credible for some reason and opted to arrest her on suspicion of murder instead. She’d spent hours in the interrogation room, being asked the same questions over and over. Her answers didn’t change and that didn’t seem to satisfy the detectives. At this point, she couldn’t tell what she was supposed to do, what she was supposed to say, what they  _ wanted _ from her.

The door opened and Yang looked over, expecting one of the two detectives who’d badgered her for hours. Instead, the woman who entered favored her with a small, apologetic smile.

“Hello, Miss Xiao Long. I’m Detective Nikos.” She strode over to the chair across from Yang, her ponytail swaying with every step. “May I ask you a few questions?”

“Are they the same ones I’ve  _ been _ answering?” She let her hands drop to rest between her knees, the clinking of the chain echoing in the small interrogation room.

“They may be, but they’re the only ones I’ll ask.” Detective Nikos drew in a steadying breath. “When was the first time you met Emerald Sustrai?”

“This morning, when I showed up at that mansion  _ for the first time _ .” Yang couldn’t keep the frustration from her voice, watching the woman across from her nod.

“And she was alive when you met her?”

“ _ Yes _ .”

“When did she die?”

“When I came back downstairs.” She almost continued but stopped short, sighing heavily first. “I came back down the stairs and went to go grab her, but I found her hanging from the ceiling. Then she dropped onto the table, and I ran out to the cops.”

“You didn’t check to see if she was still alive?”

Yang blinked. “No.”

“But you went upstairs to try and check if the others were alive?”

“Yes.”

“So why did you check the others but not Emerald?”

Finally, her frustration boiled over and her voice rose. “Because none of it made any sense!”

“What doesn’t make sense?”

“There was a woman at the top of the stairs, and then she was gone, and I came down, and somehow Emerald was hanging there, and I have  _ no idea _ how she got there, and I don’t know why she dropped, because I don’t know where the rope was tied, and I  _ just don’t know! _ ”

Detective Nikos watched her outburst, not reacting in the slightest. She just watched Yang with those emerald eyes, until the blonde let out an exasperated sigh. 

“Put your hand up to mine.”

With a roll of her eyes, she complied, all the fight fled from her. With little interest, she watched as the cop measured their hands against one another.

“Your hand is bigger than mine.” The Detective noted with surprise. “I suppose that settles it.”

“Settles  _ what? _ ”

“Emerald was strangled by someone with hands smaller than mine.” With that, she got to her feet. “For the record, I  _ do _ believe your story. Or, at least, I believe that you believe it. It’s just that there’s nothing else to back it up.”

“I took a video!” Her hands curled into fists. “Check my scroll!”

“We have.” Detective Nikos offered a small smile. “It doesn’t show what you think it does.”

Her brows furrowed, trying to parse that statement. “What the fuck does-”

Just then, the door opened again, and the two detectives she’d spent the past few hours with were standing behind a  _ very _ furious-looking Winter, who strode into the room immediately.

“Get her out of those cuffs.  _ Now _ .” Her voice held that quality that had first captured Yang’s attention all those years ago, equal parts ‘I have just barely decided not to destroy you’ and ‘I can always change my mind’, a tone that made people from all walks of life leap to do her bidding. It served her well in the military and it had its uses in other places, too.

“Look, just because the Chief said we’re cutting her loose doesn’t mean we’re done with her.” Detective WuKong shrugged, stepping into the room. “She’s still the closest thing we have to a lead.”

“Stop wasting your time and start looking for others, then,” her girlfriend replied with a keen edge to her voice. “This one leads nowhere helpful.”

Although he didn’t look particularly happy about it, Detective WuKong retrieved a key from his front pocket and released the handcuffs. As Yang stood up, rubbing at her wrists, Winter stepped over to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her out of the interrogation room. Despite her girlfriend’s protective posturing, she could still feel the gazes of the police officers watching her, following her every move as she collected her personal belongings. Through the glass front doors of the police station, she could see it was well past sundown, Winter’s car just beyond the concrete barricades, obviously not parked in any manner of marked spot.

She didn’t say a word as her girlfriend ushered her out of the station and down the stairs, all the while speaking soft words that she couldn’t quite make out.

Her thoughts were too jumbled, focused entirely on what Detective Nikos said at the end, about the video on her scroll not showing what she said it did. Was that a cop’s trick of some sort? A lie to make her change her story? A set-up to get her to admit guilt?

“Sundrop?”

She blinked, suddenly aware she’d been staring at the passenger side door without making any move towards the vehicle. “Oh, sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.” Winter shook her head and stepped in front of Yang, lifting her hands and cupping her face gently. “I can’t imagine what horrible things you’ve been subjected to but I  _ promise _ I will do whatever I can to make things better. Just say the word.”

Tears sprang to her eyes as she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, who quickly folded her into an embrace. “Believe me.”

“I do, without question.” Careful hands carded through her hair- something she’d never let any of her previous partners do, but Winter was different. “You can tell me all about it or we can never speak of it again. The choice is yours.”

“But the cops-”

“You don’t worry about them,” she said, her tone still gentle yet dismissive. “I’ve hired three defense attorneys; they’ll take care of the cops.”

“I… don’t think that’s how it works.”

“It does when you have enough money.”

Unbidden, a chuckle bubbled up as she shook her head. “That’s terrible.”

“But not inaccurate.” 

Winter reached over and opened the passenger door. As she was helped in, her girlfriend also gave her a kiss, and it settled her nerves a bit. Not much, but the unconditional support  _ did _ help soothe her after the past several hours of repeated questioning. With a sigh, she reached into her bag for her scroll, intending to watch the video for herself, but instead felt her hand touch something else.

As Winter got in on the other side and started up the car, Yang pulled out the little red book she’d found at the top of the stairs. 

Weird. She knew the cops had taken her scroll to download the video- and, absently, she was  _ really _ glad she’d gotten a new scroll upon moving to Atlas, as her old one had some photos that she  _ wouldn’t _ want anyone else looking at, much less downloading- and assumed they would take the book, too. More than once she’d mentioned picking it up after seeing the strange woman, so why they’d just let her keep it escaped her. 

Shouldn’t they keep it for evidence or something?

“Are you hungry?”

“Huh?” She looked up, seeing her girlfriend’s patient gaze.

“Are you hungry?” Winter gestured towards the city around them. “I can stop by that burger place you like.”

“You… hate that place. Too greasy.”

“Right now, I think we could  _ both _ do with a little… comfort food.”

Yang drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. “Yeah. That sounds good.”

“I’ll get your usual.” Her girlfriend reached over, brushing the backs of her knuckles along Yang’s cheek in a soothing gesture. “Just… relax. You’re safe now. Okay? I love you.”

“Love you, too, Snowdrift.” Her lips pulled into a smile as she started to actually relax into the car seat. For a moment, she thought about forgetting her whole ordeal, but then she remembered the book in her hands. Atlas had a fair number of streetlights, so she decided to open it up and try reading a little bit. The moment she did so, Winter reached over and clicked one of the interior lights. “Won’t you get a ticket for that?”

“Believe me, no cop in Atlas wants to pull  _ me _ over tonight.”

With a chuckle, she shook her head and opened the book. It definitely appeared to be some sort of diary and whoever wrote in it possessed rather neat and fluid cursive handwriting. The first page was dated six months ago and contained a relatively short message.

_ I’ve made a decision.  _

_ We might get caught. We might not. Either way, I want to chronicle it all. _

_ Why? _

_ Because when they ask me: “Why did you do it?” I want there to be no doubt. _

_ I did it because I could.  _

_ I did it because it was easy. _

_ I did it because no one could stop me. _

_ And  _ _ that _ _ is power. _

Yang’s brow furrowed as she flipped to the next page to continue reading. It didn’t have a date but, she supposed, it probably wouldn’t; this didn’t seem to be a normal diary.

_ I started young. The summer after my sixteenth birthday, I began to ply the talents I’d spent my whole childhood perfecting. At first, I started small. Used my looks and my cunning to secure little things. Food. Money. Jewelry. I started with useful things and moved onto trophies of sorts.  _

_ Really, it didn’t matter what. Whatever I received, it was a means to an end. And that end? _

_ Power. _

_ The ability to mold others to my will. _

_ To make them believe. _

_ To make them want what I deem they should want. _

_ The first two I pulled under my sway were my childhood friends. Emerald always followed me around like a lost puppy, begging for affection. Mercury just wanted someone to treat him better than his father did, which wasn’t hard. That’s what made them easy for me, the perfect test subjects. _

_ At first, Emerald had something of a conscience. Mercury, too, but far more subdued. As long as I praised them, they did whatever I asked. The first few tests, I had them steal things. Little things- wallets, purses, whatever they could fit into their pockets from the local store. _

_ When I asked for more… complicated things, though, Emerald resisted at first. It took more praise, more affirmations, before I could convince her, but after the first mugging, I knew: she was mine. And with her on my side, Mercury eagerly followed. _

_ We became like a family. It was us against the world. _

_ But I needed more. _

_ Taking things- food, money, material things- didn’t satisfy me anymore. I thought, perhaps, if I upped the ante, I would find that satisfaction. _

_ The robberies helped, some. I had fun. Spreading terror, seeing the fear in someone’s eyes as I held them at gunpoint- I became addicted to it. _

_ That’s when I came upon Roman and Neo. They had their own manner of justifying their actions, and I had no problem with that. All I needed was to prove that I could win their loyalty, too. _

_ I thought I would need to win over Neo first but her loyalty to Roman was unshakeable. Luckily, Roman is a coward, and I made him  _ _ fear _ _ me. He tried to hide it and that worked rather well for me. Once he was under my thumb, I had Neo too. _

_ Our robberies became more complicated. We started in Vale, down by the docks, and wound our way throughout the city. Convenience stores, ATMs, banks- it didn’t satisfy me. I began to think nothing could. _

_ Then, we hit the First Bank of Vacuo. Things went wrong. No one was supposed to die. _

_ Thankfully, someone did, and I realized what I’d always been missing. _

_ For what power is greater than that over life and death? _

“Hi, welcome to King Burger!”

Yang jolted, looking up to see they’d pulled into the drive thru. So engrossed in reading the diary, she hadn’t really noticed how long Winter had been driving.

“Are you alright?” Her girlfriend spoke softly, ignoring the speaker for the moment.

“Fine. Just… spooked.” She shook her head, closing the diary and putting it back in her bag. “I wasn’t paying attention. Sorry.”

“That’s okay.” Winter reached out and took her hand, squeezing gently. “You’ve had a trying day. Let’s get some food.”

Then, she turned to start ordering food, allowing Yang to just tune out and turn her gaze out of the passenger window. Atlas looked bright at night, with lights playing above the city, and she could almost find comfort in how peaceful it all looked. Strange, she thought, considering her day had been anything but typical, yet nothing seemed amiss about the city at large. Everything just kept turning.

Her girlfriend handed her a cup, straw already in place, and she took a sip. At the surprising flavor, she hummed. “Soda?”

“You could use a little treat.” Winter smiled. “Don’t worry, it’s not caffeinated.”

“You know just how to spoil me,” she replied, leaning over to kiss the woman. 

Perhaps once they got home, they could spend some time cuddling, because she could use some physical affection of the non-sexual sort. In the back of her mind, she could still see those wide-eyed gazes looking at her, vacant and pale.

As she settled back into her seat, Yang reached for her scroll, intent on whittling away some time with a mindless game.

But then she caught something in the corner of her eye, turning to look and freezing.

Across the street, she saw someone shrouded in shadows. Somehow, she could tell they were looking at her. She couldn’t see a face or any discernible features but she  _ knew _ , could feel herself holding their gaze. And the more she stared, the more familiar the silhouette became, and a cold sweat broke out across her brow as she  _ swore _ she could see brown eyes catch the light of a passing car-

“Yang?”

Her gaze snapped to her left, looking at her girlfriend, as her heart stuttered in her chest. “Y-yeah?”

“Would you mind holding the bag?” The way the question was phrased- curious, almost hesitant- made her blink and shift in her seat.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sure.” She accepted the paper bag, keeping her attention focused on it. “Winter?”

“Yes?”

“Can you… tell who that is? Standing across the street?”

Winter hummed. “I don’t see anyone.” Surprised, she looked up, and found no one anywhere in sight. “Did you see someone?”

“It’s… don’t worry about it.” She shook her head and scrubbed at her eyes. “I think being cooped up for hours just got to me. I’m seeing things.”

“You’ve been put under an unimaginable amount of stress today. Just close your eyes and rest until we’re home, okay?” 

She let out a sigh, leaning her head back and doing just that. “You’re too good to me, you know that?”

“It’s adorable that you think that.”

For the rest of the drive home, she kept her eyes closed and listened to Winter’s soft humming along with the radio. Maybe, if she asked sweetly enough, she might even get a lullaby to drift off to at the end of the night. Her girlfriend rarely sang, despite having a beautiful voice, but she’d let Yang indulge every now and again.

Then again, there might be something  _ else _ she could ask for that would be a bit better. “Think we can take a bath before bed?”

“We? Meaning, at the same time?”

“Well, that was the dream,” she replied with a smirk on her lips.

Her girlfriend softly laughed. “I suppose I can make that a reality.”

Between a nice, greasy dinner, soda, and the promise of naked cuddles, Yang thought there might be a good ending to the worst day of her life after all.

* * *

When they got home, Winter did everything in her power to make things easier. Understanding Yang’s need for physical affirmations, they ate their fast food dinner on the couch, side-by-side, while one of their favorite movies played on the TV- a recording they kept for days like this, when they were more or less on autopilot. She ate mechanically, trying hard not to think about anything; she hardly registered the taste of her food, ears filled with static and white noise until her girlfriend touched her arm.

“Hmmm?” She looked over, noting the worry pinching Winter’s brow. “What?”

“I asked if you wanted to take our bath now or wait a while.” She reached out, rubbing a hand along Yang’s shoulders. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She licked her lips. “What did… what did they tell you? When you found out?”

“Mr. Ozpin called me after the police called him; he said something had happened at the house that you went to, so I offered to give him a ride. All I knew on the drive over was that you’d called for police and an ambulance and you were hysterical when they arrived.” Briefly, anger flashed across Winter’s face. “When we got there, he went inside while I spoke with the police; they made it sound like you’d been taken to the hospital, so that’s where I went. It took hours to find out you’d actually been  _ arrested _ , and another hour before I could get you out of there. I can’t believe they arrested you in the first place.”

“What did they say? About… them…”

“You mean the victims?” Winter moved closer, gently pulling Yang into her lap and wrapping her arms around her, providing as much comfort as she could. “The police said they were all strangled-“

“ _ Hanged _ ,” she corrected, drawing in a stuttered breath. “They were hanged. I mean, one wasn’t, but he- it looked like he broke his neck? Maybe?”

“Were they hanged by someone else or was it suicide?”

“I don’t…” Closing her eyes, she pictured those rooms again, and shook her head. “I don’t know. Like, most of them, I don’t think so? They were so high up but I don’t remember seeing a ladder- but one of them, she might’ve. I just- here.” She got to her feet, heading to her bag and retrieving her scroll. “I took a video. If they didn’t delete it, you’ll see what I saw… if… you want.”

Before she walked back to the couch, she stopped and looked at the device in her hand. As much as she wanted to show Winter what she was talking about, could she really subject her girlfriend to that? To those empty stares…

Hands cupped her own and she looked up to find Winter standing before her, her expression serious. “You don’t need to worry about me. The military trained me to face death without fear or hesitation- mine or others’. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay.”

They sat back down on the couch, Yang in her girlfriend’s lap and Winter watching over her shoulder as she opened the device. A few taps and she found the video, hesitating for only a moment before tapping on it. It started down in the living room, and she could just barely make out Emerald’s last words to her before she responded and started moving towards the staircase. Even though she knew what was coming- had  _ lived  _ it- Yang could feel her heart pounding in her chest as the video got to the point where she pushed open the door to that room.

And then it stopped entirely because of what she saw.

The two bodies were there, lying just like she remembered, but where before they’d had ropes around their necks, now they had sickly purple and green bruises. Their eyes, bulging and bloodshot, stared at her through the screen.

Then the door closed, and her own voice said the words ‘I’m sorry’ before moving to the next room.

“That… that wasn’t what I saw.” She turned, looking at her girlfriend. “That  _ wasn’t _ what I saw!”

“Yang, calm down-“

“No!” She got up, pacing as the video continued to play, capturing the scene as she walked into the room she found Mercury in, except- just as last time- it didn’t look the way she remembered. He had the same bruises, the same bloodshot eyes, and she could see scuff marks in the hardwood floor- as if he’d been kicking, fighting off an unseen attacker. “This- this isn’t right. This isn’t what I saw.”

Finally, the video got to the last room, and Yang’s throat went dry. For the most part, this one matched her memory, but not all the way- no rope, but rather a thin strip of cord encircled her neck, a ridiculous mismatch to the bruises on her skin. Obviously staged, obviously- and her hands began to shake as the video ended.

She put a hand to her head as tears sprang to her eyes. “I-I didn’t- that wasn’t what I saw, I swear-“

“Yang.” Winter’s firm voice calmed her whirlwind of thoughts as the woman stepped up, grabbing both of her wrists. Then, her expression softened, as did her voice. “Sundrop. Listen to me.” Her girlfriend moved closer, folding her into an embrace. “Our minds sometimes play tricks on us when interpreting traumatic events. The muzzle of a gun looks like a cannon, a spray of blood like a fireman’s hose, a kitchen knife like a sword- it happens, to a lot of people.” Yang closed her eyes and buried her head in the woman’s chest, allowing herself to be held up by her girlfriend’s strong arms. Between the two of them, the teacher had always been stronger- weightlifting and boxing had paid for her education- but, in that moment, she felt frail and powerless. “You went up there to see if you could help. You interpreted the scenes before you in a way that provided the answer you sought while, perhaps, shielding you from the exact nature of the injuries. That’s okay.”

Clinging to Winter’s jacket, she tried to stem her tears and focus on what mattered. “You believe me, right? I didn’t hurt any of them- no one-“

“ _ Of course _ I believe you, Yang.” Lightly, fingers lifted her chin and she opened her eyes so their gazes could meet. “You’re the strongest, sweetest, gentlest woman I’ve ever met. You would never hurt anyone unprovoked.”

Pushing herself onto the tips of her toes, she pressed a kiss to the woman’s lips. Relief flooded through her at the calm, rational explanation and unconditional support. Even if nothing else made sense, at least she had Winter to keep her steady.

“Thanks, Snowdrift,” she said when the kiss ended, looking up into blue eyes with a smile on her lips. “But you should check a mirror sometime.”

With a genuine look of surprise, Winter tilted her head. “And why’s that?”

“‘Cause you’re all those things to me,” she replied, smiling wider when her girlfriend laughed and rolled her eyes, dipping down and sweeping her into her arms. While she doubted Winter would carry her all the way to the bedroom, she enjoyed being carried out of the living room bridal style.

For the rest of the night, she tried to put everything else out of her mind, her world narrowing to just her and her girlfriend. Winter indulged her in every way, even carefully washed her hair and back. When they finally slipped into bed, Yang could almost divorce the morning and afternoon from the evening, falling asleep quickly with Winter curled around her.

* * *

The next morning, she woke up to lips peppering kisses behind her ear and down the side of her neck. A giggle bubbled up from deep inside her chest as she turned over, catching those lips in a kiss. The impromptu make out session lasted about twenty minutes before Winter pulled away, white hair falling over her shoulders.

“Good morning, Sundrop.” Her girlfriend smiled. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired.” She sighed, stretching her arms over her head. “Not looking forward to work, though.”

“Is Mr. Ozpin having you come in?”

“It’s the private school day.” Yang yawned, scrubbing at her eye. “I… probably should’ve double checked last night.”

“Give him a call first.” Winter pressed a kiss to her cheek. “If you have the option to take today off, I’d suggest it. We’d usually order at least a forty-eight hour quarters for someone who witnessed what you did.”

“I’m not a soldier, Snowdrift;  _ some _ of us actually have to work.” She teased, earning a playful slap to her shoulder. However, as her girlfriend got up and put on her robe, Yang reflected on her suggestion. “But I’ll call. Just in case.”

“Good. While you do that, I’ll start on breakfast-”

“Nope!” She sat up, throwing off the covers and grabbing her own robe from the chair by her side of the bed. “I love you, Winter, but you are  _ not _ starting another grease fire!”

As she brushed past her girlfriend, the woman let out an indignant huff. “It’s not like that’s a  _ frequent _ occurrence.”

“Okay, quick tally: how many times you’ve cooked versus how many times we’ve called the fire department.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Am I  _ wrong _ ?” She laughed, stepping into the kitchen and opening the fridge. Despite the early hour, enough light filtered in through the skylights for her to not worry about hitting the lights. As she started to hum a little tune, she pulled out a carton of eggs and a package of bacon and started on breakfast. “How do you want your eggs?”

“Scrambled!”

“And your bacon?”

“Chewy!”

A smile curled her lips as she pulled out a pan, turning on the stove and pulling out a bowl to start mixing up their eggs. They’d probably need to stop by the store sometime soon, replenish their stock. They usually went once every week or so, since both of them were fond of cooking. 

Well, Yang was fond of cooking and Winter was fond of home-cooked meals.

The smell of bacon cooking and the sizzling of the grease combined for an almost picturesque morning as she whisked the eggs with a fork. As she turned back towards the stove, she noticed the little red diary sitting on the counter, next to her bag. Considering how out of it she was last night while trying to relay the events from the morning, she must’ve accidentally pulled it out of her bag while grabbing her scroll and didn’t notice.

Setting aside the bowl with the eggs, Yang picked up the book. She used a fork to turn over the bacon- quite nearly done- and opened to where she left off, opting to scan a few more pages while she awaited for the bacon to finish up. 

_ Power comes in many forms. I’ll even tell you, oh lucky you, that I can reveal what I truly want from this, and you’ll give it to me.  _

_ I want to be remembered. It’s a power that lasts even after death. _

_ I’ll be cursed by the families of every person whose blood I’ve spilled. I’ll live in their memories forever, this vile person who stole away the light from their life. Even now, I can’t count how many people think of me without knowing it, cursing me for their lost goods or precious momentos. Small things, though, are easily forgotten; taking a life leaves an impact that ripples outward, affecting more and more people with each passing year. _

_ It wasn’t until about two weeks after the heist in Vacuo that I realized we could make a killing- literally and figuratively- if we played our cards right. I usually used Emerald- sweet, naive Emerald- to lull old men into a false sense of security. She worked on old women, too, but sometimes I’d use Mercury instead. I think it helped feed his ego, and keeping him involved ensured he remained loyal. _

_ Once they had the target’s trust, we began a deliciously slow process. Slowly working our way into wills, and phasing living family members out. Cutting ties. Changing numbers. As our marks slipped further into dementia or a fabricated sensation of love, we bled their bank accounts dry. _

_ Roman and Neo worked well on charities- he, a poor single father, and she, his mute and distraught daughter- swayed many hearts. _

_ I got my kicks in, too. Just not where the others could see. Ripping people off is one thing; murder, though, slightly different. So, when we’d taken as much money as we could without anyone catching on, I’d step in and finish them off. I found plenty of ways to do it- a needle with air, crushed pills in a drink, an expertly forged suicide note- but the one that brought me the most satisfaction was closing my hands around their throats, feeling their life flee and their hearts slow beneath my palms. It’s exhausting, strangling someone to death- my first time, I had to knock the bastard out cold with a toaster to the back of his skull first- but I found that if I use something, like a belt or a rope, I can get them most of the way there quickly, take most of the fight out of them, leave them on death’s door. _

_ Then, I escort them through. _

“Yang? Have you seen my scroll?”

At hearing her girlfriend’s voice Yang looked up, alarmed to find that the bacon had turned crispy due to her neglect. She set aside the diary and quickly attended to breakfast, wincing as she set aside the bacon and put a few uncooked strips on to cook. “Uh, no, not since last night.”

“Ah, that’s a good point.” Winter walked past the kitchen and into the living room. “Found it.” Then, she came back and entered the kitchen. “How’s breakfast coming?”

“It’ll be ready soon,” she replied, offering a weak smile. “I kinda overcooked the bacon.”

“Oh, well that’s alright.” Gingerly, she took one of the crispy pieces and ate it, her expression remaining carefully neutral. “See? It’s delicious.”

Yang raised a brow. “Really?”

Her girlfriend pressed her lips into a thin line briefly. “It’s… edible.”

“Go set the table.” She laughed, bumping Winter’s hip as she moved to comply. “I’ll eat the crispy pieces.”

“Thank you, Sundrop.”

Briefly, her gaze landed on the red book but she ignored it for the moment and focused on breakfast, not wanting to make the same mistake again.

* * *

After breakfast, Winter got ready for work, dressing smartly in her military uniform. The dress version, that looked more like a suit than a functional uniform, but somehow made the woman’s figure look even better. Yang watched her adjust her tie in the mirror of their master bathroom, leaning against the doorway with a small smile on her lips. She’d changed out of her robe and into sweatpants and a sweater, so she could stay both comfy and warm. If she ended up having work, she’d get changed later; if she didn’t, she’d run errands instead.

“Have I ever told you that you look good in that uniform?”

“I think, once, when you were ripping it off of me,” Winter replied, smirking and meeting her gaze in the mirror. “Which, if you’re feeling up to it, could be how we spend tonight.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.” She watched as her girlfriend turned and came towards her, pulling her into an embrace and a passionate kiss that didn’t last nearly long enough. “Keep going like that and it’s how we’re going to spend the next two hours.”

“As tempting as that is, I’m afraid I  _ do _ have work to get done today.” Another peck of a kiss. “Call Mr. Ozpin and let me know how things go.” As she drew away, Yang followed her to the front door. “And, if you are approached by cops for  _ any _ reason, don’t say anything and call me  _ immediately _ .”

“You think they’ll come around again?” She raised a brow. “I told them everything.”

Before opening the door, Winter turned back to her, expression serious. “You’re the only witness to the deaths of five people. Even if you have no idea what happened to them, you’re the closest thing to a lead they have, and when people begin demanding answers, they may offer you up as a scapegoat. I won’t let that happen.”

Yang sighed, shaking her head. “Alright, I’ll let you know. Promise.”

“Good.” Then, she smiled. “Love you, Sundrop.”

“Love you too, Snowdrift.”

As her girlfriend left for the day, Yang went for her scroll and called Mr. Ozpin first thing. She could’ve done it while Winter was still home but thought it might make her a bit too emotional, and the woman seemed right on the edge of activating her protective inclinations. Although supportive of her decision to get a temporary job while waiting for her license to come through, Winter also believed that Yang didn’t have to work at all if she didn’t want to, though that was probably more a holdover from her upbringing than anything else. If Mr. Ozpin said something that upset her, she half expected for Winter to take the scroll from her and quit on her behalf. She probably wouldn’t, of course, but she’d be  _ mighty _ tempted.

Yang went to the kitchen and cleaned up the slight mess from breakfast while waiting for the scroll to connect.

“Ms. Xiao Long?”

“Hey, Mr. Ozpin,” she said while drawing a surreptitious breath. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you yesterday-”

“That’s no trouble, Ms. Xiao Long; it was a stressful day for all involved,” he replied, his voice sounding more frazzled than usual as he adjusted his glasses. “Frankly, I’ve been up most of the night trying to contact Ms. Goodwitch. I’m beginning to suspect her absence may not be health related at all.”

Yang’s brow furrowed. “You still haven’t heard from her?”

“No. Given the events of yesterday, I’m more than a bit concerned. I’ve notified the authorities, but they haven’t been very forthcoming with any answers.” He sighed heavily. “Usually, I’d take Ms. Goodwitch’s place and assist you with today’s study hall, but I think it may be in both of our best interests to leave today’s study hall to others.”

“Yeah, maybe.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Back at it tomorrow, then?”

He appeared genuinely surprised. “Would you be able to do that?”

“Sure.” She nodded. “I mean, I’m a little freaked out but… I think it’s good to return to, ya know, normal.”

“Very well, then. Stop by the office tomorrow at ten; I’ll be asking Ms. Peach to cover for you, so you’ll take her appointment tomorrow morning.”

“Perfect.” Yang smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, sir.”

As she ended the call, her gaze fell on the little red book and a frown tugged at her lips. She had the sneaking suspicion she’d need to turn it over to the cops at  _ some _ point but also thought Winter had a pretty good point. As it stood, six people walked into that house and only one walked out, and if they were all  _ murdered _ instead of…

She swallowed thickly, picking it up. Tomorrow morning, she’d give it to her girlfriend so it could be turned in to the authorities.

For today, though, she opted to sate her curiosity a bit more. At this point, she felt fairly certain the book belonged to Cinder- not only did the color match her room, but the author mentioned three of the woman’s four roommates, and possibly named the fifth- but she couldn’t quite reconcile that the actions described were taken by someone who seemed so… normal. They were the narcissistic indulgences of a psychopath.

They could very well be, Yang realized, the writings of whoever killed those people.

Taking it with her into the living room, she sat down on the couch and opened it back up, prepared to dive a bit further into the madness, just to see where it led.


	3. The Theory

_ Emerald caught me in the act, once. Watched as I strangled one of her marks to death, saw just as I did how the light drained from his eyes. I thought, perhaps, I’d finally crossed a line and she wouldn’t follow. _

_ But a few words and some encouragement, and she accepted it. I was doing it to protect her, of course. I fabricated a fanciful tale, one that painted us as vigilantes- we’d only targeted the ones whose wealth shielded them from proper repercussions for their actions. An idealistic revenge: spilling the blood of those who would ignore or use us. _

_ Honestly, I don’t know if any of the people I’d killed had done anything to warrant it. That didn’t matter to me. They could identify us, which is why they had to die. I was having too much fun to get stopped by the law just yet. _

Yang’s nose scrunched up, setting the book aside and passing a hand over her face. After an hour of reading more deranged ramblings, she understood the first page a bit better; this person, whoever it was,  _ relished _ the chance to kill and hurt, to live in the memories of others as the one who stole something precious away. If anything, the only regret expressed by the person was that no one knew exactly  _ who _ to attribute all these crimes to, at least not by name. 

With a sigh, she got to her feet, intent on heading into the kitchen so she could busy herself with… just about anything, honestly, but her ringing scroll stopped her movements. With a quirked brow, Yang picked it up, pulling it open to find her sister calling. With a bemused little smile, she answered the call.

“Hey, Rubes!”

“Yang!” Her sister’s jovial expression filled the screen, silver eyes sparkling as her red-tipped hair… lightly… smoked? “How’s everything?”

“Uh, that depends on  _ why _ you’re smoldering.” She pulled open the fridge, grabbing the pitcher of tea from within and preparing herself a glass. “Rough day in the lab?”

“Oh! Yeah, you could say that.” Her younger sister began patting at herself, looking away for a moment and saying something before turning her attention back to the scroll. “Sorry! We just finished testing our latest engine. It went… not as good as we’d hoped, but, we made some progress!”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Yang said with a chuckle, making her way back to the living room. “But, you usually stay ‘in the zone’ when you’re at work. Why the sudden break?”

At that, the younger woman’s expression faltered slightly. Ever since they were young- back when Ruby’s mom died- the sisters had been extremely close. Sometimes, they didn’t even use words, able to read body language after years of depending solely on one another. Sure, they still had their dad, but it wasn’t the same after Summer passed, and that meant there were no secrets between them.

“Winter called me yesterday. She said… to give you a little time before I tried calling.” Then, she looked worried, and that hurt Yang’s pride. As the elder of the two, she’d taken the brunt of the responsibility when growing, tried to look after Ruby as much as possible, tried to raise her. It wasn’t supposed to be the other way around. “Yang, are you alright? Be honest.”

She took a deep breath, relaxing into the couch. “I mean… I’ll  _ be _ alright. It’s still in my head and all that but it’s not, like, nightmare level, ya know? I’m not losing sleep over it.”

“That’s good.” Her sister nodded, smiling a little. “I mean, I can’t imagine it, but you’ve never been one to scare easy. Still, you know it’s okay to, ya know,  _ not _ be okay, right?”

“Yeah.” Yang nodded, taking a sip of her tea. “I think Winter’s going to be watching me like a hawk for weeks. Probably for the best, too. It’s just… something you can’t prepare yourself for and I… played tricks on myself, I guess.”

Her sister’s expression pinched. “Tricks?”

“Yeah, like… I’ll spare you the details, but, it comes down to what I  _ thought _ I saw and what was  _ actually _ there being different and… Winter explained it, said that sometimes the mind plays tricks to protect us, and I guess that’s what my mind did.”

“Hmmm.” Ruby pressed her lips into a thin line. “Well, I guess that makes sense. You don’t strike me as the type to see things, though.”

“I wouldn’t think so either but, ya know, I’ve never seen five dead bodies before.” She shrugged. “It makes about as much sense as everything else.” A pause. “Did… Winter tell you… about the, uh, the cops?”

Her sister seemed genuinely confused, shaking her head. “Nothing specific. She said you called them and that’s how she found out in the first place, but that’s about it. Why?”

“Oh, no reason.” Yang set down her drink and waved a hand. “I mean, it’s nothing. I just didn’t know how much Winter told you. She didn’t tell me she told you.”

“I’m not surprised; at first, she called me and Blake because she was worried about you, then we had to add Weiss to the call because Winter was…  _ really _ upset about something.” Ruby gave a bemused chuckle. “I didn’t really catch everything but she said she was going to hire enough lawyers to sue someone’s great great great grandkids.”

She laughed, rolling her eyes. “She’s a Schnee, alright.”

“Yeah, that’s why we had to call equally dramatic back-up.” They both laughed at that. “Which, I guess, means she didn’t tell you about Blake.”

“What about Blake?”

“Winter invited her to Atlas to come check on you. Invited Weiss, too, but I think Weiss had some important meeting today and couldn’t make it. I think Blake caught a flight early this morning.”

“Hold on.” Yang pulled up her text messages, shooting off one to her girlfriend and another off to her best friend. “It’s sweet of her to be so concerned for me but she should’ve let me know before asking Blake to come all the way to Atlas.”

“She probably wanted to avoid the ‘I don’t like bothering people’ lecture.”

“The  _ what _ lecture?”

“The little speech you give whenever someone goes out of their way for you, even when it’s something relatively small.” Ruby smirked. “You know. The speech you’re  _ going _ to give her when she gets home anyway, now that you’ve found out?”

“I don’t-” Just then, she got a message from her girlfriend which… essentially said the same thing.

_ Sorry, Sundrop, but I knew you’d beg off if I told you. What you’ve been through is a significant and traumatic experience; you need support right now. You can give me the ‘I don’t like to burden others’ speech when I get home. _

“Something wrong, Sis?”

She jokingly glowered at her sister’s grin. “You’re all terrible.”

“Yeah, having family and friends who love you, what a curse.” Ruby put a hand to her forehead, dramatically cringing. “Woe is you and your horrible fate.”

“Give it a rest.” She sighed, looking down at her comfy clothes. “Think I’ll have to pick Blake up from the airdock?”

“She’ll probably catch a cab, in an effort to-”

“If you say what I think you’re gonna-”

“-avoid the ‘I don’t like bothering people’ lecture-”

“I swear, Ruby!”

Her sister laughed, briefly disappearing from the screen before composing herself. “You  _ know _ you’re  _ exactly _ like that.”

Yang feigned disgust. “I have the right to remain silent.”

As they both laughed, the doorbell rang, and she got to her feet. “I should probably get that.”

“Yeah. If it’s Blake, tell her I say hi! I’ll try to schedule some vacation time and come visit you in Atlas soon, okay?”

“Sounds good. Love ya, Rubes.”

“Love you too, Yang!”

As she collapsed her scroll, she moved to the front door. Absently, she thought about checking through the peephole, but years of just  _ opening _ the door overrode any sense of caution in the moment. Which was how she came face-to-face with Detective Nikos.

“Good morning, Ms. Xiao Long.”

“I was told to call the lawyers if any of you came around,” she said as a way of greeting.

“While that’s more than fair, I promise I’ll be quick. There was one question I didn’t have the chance to ask and this is strictly off the record.”

Yang pressed her lips into a thin line. “While I’m tempted to believe you, my girlfriend’s not as trusting.”

For a moment, the redheaded cop appeared on the verge of giving up. Then, she mustered herself for one final plea. “How about this: I’ll ask the question. If you don’t want to answer, you close the door. You’ll never see me again, one way or the other.”

Weighing her options, she decided that she had little reason to doubt this  _ particular _ cop. “Alright. What’s the question?”

“Can you describe the woman you saw, the one at the top of the stairs?”

That surprised her and it likely showed in her expression. “The other detectives told me I made her up.”

“As I told you before, I believe that you believe what you saw. In trying to reconcile the similarities and differences, I believe I can find the truth of what happened out at that house.” Detective Nikos spread her hands. “You’re the only person who can help me unravel the mystery.”

“Well, I only saw her for a second.” Yang’s brows furrowed. “She… stood about as tall as me, I think, with brown hair and brown eyes.”

“What was she wearing?”

“Some kind of cloak, I think?” She shook her head. “It’s a blur, really.”

“Would you be able to pick her out of a line-up, do you think?”

That caught Yang’s attention. “Did you find her?”

“Not exactly.” The detective reached into the pocket of her blazer and pulled out her scroll, expanding it and tapping her way to a picture. Then, she presented it. “Do any of these women look familiar?”

Leaning closer to get a better look, she studied the picture of a volleyball team. Much to her surprise, she  _ did _ recognize one of the women smiling for the picture. “Yeah, that one, second from the right. That’s her.”

“I see.” The redhead nodded, tucking her scroll away. “And, does the name Amber Gail sound familiar to you?”

“No? Why? Is that the person who did all this?”

“It’s a lead we’ll be investigating.” Detective Nikos smiled politely. “Thank you, Ms. Xiao Long, for your cooperation.”

“Yeah… no problem…” Yang closed the door, a furrow to her brow. She pulled out her scroll, sending a quick text to her girlfriend and waiting for the inevitable call. The moment it came through, she answered. “Hey, Snowdrift.”

“Did they upset you?” Winter’s expression was pinched, a low murmur of conversation hinting that the woman had literally dropped everything to make the call in the first place. “Did they start asking questions? What did you say?”

“It was just the last detective I talked to; she just wanted to see if I could identify the woman I saw, the one who screamed at me.” She sighed. “Which, I  _ did _ , so that should be the end of that. Now, I’m not the only witness anymore.”

“That’s good.” Her girlfriend frowned, looking away briefly. “I’m sorry I informed your friends without telling you. I genuinely thought you’d brush it off if I suggested it and I’m worried about you.”

“I understand. I’m not exactly  _ happy _ about it, of course, but I get it.” Yang shrugged. “Do you know when her flight gets in?”

“Of course; I bought her ticket. I’ll send you the information.”

Recognizing the look in those deep blue eyes, her lips pulled into a small smile. “Don’t worry, Snowdrift. You can spend some time tonight apologizing to me.”

That made her expression brighten. “I look forward to it.”

“Good.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Well, I’m gonna take a shower and get ready to pick up Blake. How long is she staying?”

“A few days; Weiss will be joining her tomorrow.”

“Oh, I should probably get the guest bedroom-“

“That won’t be necessary; I booked them a hotel.” Her girlfriend smirked, lowering her voice. “You know as well as I that my sister  _ hates _ hearing us.”

At that, Yang had to laugh. “Oh, so you think  _ you’re _ getting some, too, huh? You’re in the dog house, Snowdrift.”

“I’m well aware; I also know how to get  _ out _ of it.”

She mulled that over before conceding the point. Although known throughout her life for having something of a temper, it honestly took a bit to get her riled and she didn’t stay mad for long. The reputation stemmed more from the brawls that resulted from someone pissing her off than her actual anger.

That, and her girlfriend had quite a few tricks to win her over.

“We’ll see,” she said with a shrug. “Maybe that silver tongue of yours won’t do you any good.”

“I  _ highly _ doubt that but I’m sure we’ll both enjoy putting it to the test.” Winter’s expression softened. “Try to relax and have fun today, Sundrop.”

“I’ll try. Love you, Snowdrift.”

“Love you, too.”

As the line went dead, she collapsed her scroll and sighed. Although she enjoyed spending time with Blake, she didn’t like when people inconvenienced themselves over her. However, unless she wanted to prove Ruby and Winter right, she’d have to grin and bear the visit. Really, she wanted to say they were all overreacting but… well… it couldn’t  _ hurt _ to try and take her mind off things.

Lilac eyes landed on the little red book.

Yeah. Some time spent hanging out with Blake seemed like the better way to spend her day, so she started towards the bedroom to get started on that shower.

* * *

By the time she’d gotten out of the shower, Yang already had a text from Blake saying she was collecting her luggage and wondering if they could meet somewhere to eat. As it happened, she’d scouted out a few restaurants on the off chance Blake and Weiss would come for a visit and suggested a sushi place that they could both reach relatively quickly that usually ran a nice lunch special. While both of them dated women from an affluent family, the two best friends were more price conscious by nature and considered a good deal preferable to an extravagant menu.

With a destination set, she bit the bullet and grabbed her leather bomber jacket, gloves, and helmet while hoping the wind wouldn’t cut  _ too _ deep. Then, she went out to the garage and got on her bike, the roar of its engine a familiar and exhilarating thrum that resonated through her very soul. It helped, the return to something so comforting and normal, and she hit the garage door opener to begin her ride across the city, hitting it again as she sped away.

Unfortunately, the wind  _ did _ cut pretty deep, but not to the point where she was shivering while changing lanes, so she considered it a win and mentally made a note to consider buying a vehicle for the colder months. While she didn’t want to get rid of her bike entirely, it seemed practicality would force her hand in this respect. On the other hand, it was easy to find parking, which allowed her to quickly make her way inside the restaurant and the warmed air within.

After being shown to a table beside the conveyor belt with a good view of the restaurant’s front window, Yang relaxed into the seat and watched a few plates pass by, stomach beginning to growl. While sushi usually didn’t fill her up enough, a nice lunch would tide her over until she could cook up something for dinner. Though, now that she thought on it, ordering in pizza sounded pretty good, too. Even if they usually didn’t order out quite so often, they could probably get away with it considering the special circumstances. Really, it didn’t come down to money or anything like that, just personal preference.

A waitress stopped by the table, offering a smile. “Would you like something to drink, Ma’am?”

“Just water for now.” She waved a hand. “I’m waiting for a friend. I’m sure she’ll want one of the teas when she gets here.”

“Well, here’s our full list,” she said while handing over a small menu. “Will you be doing the belt special?”

“Yeah, I think both of us will,” she replied, eyeing a little red flag stuck into one of the rolls. “Red flag’s for spicy, right?”

“Yep!” Her waitress gave a little nod of her head. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”

“Alright.” Yang pulled out her scroll, sending off a text to let Blake know she already had a table.

For the next several minutes, she watched the conveyor belt and all the different rolls on display. Her mind wandered, briefly touching on her memory of the mansion, but she forced herself to focus on something else. Like, inviting Blake back to the house to hang out. They could watch movies like old times and riff on all the cheesy effects, maybe, or binge a show. The Faunus had mentioned some series she’d recently become hooked on that Yang was constantly saying she’d check out for herself one of these days.

“Someone’s in La La Land.”

Blinking, she turned her head to find sliding smoothly into the seat, raven hair cascading over her shoulders. Unsurprisingly, she looked the same as the last time they saw each other via scroll, catching up on little things. “Hey, Stranger. How’ve you been?”

“Isn’t that what I’m supposed to ask  _ you _ ?” A brief chuckle. “But seriously, how are you holding up?”

“I’m fine.” Her expression fell. “Look, I appreciate you coming all this way, but Winter overreacted. I mean, I’m shaken up, but I didn’t get hurt or anything.”

“Sometimes, the wounds we  _ can’t _ see hurt far worse than those we can,” Blake said, feline ears twitching atop her head. “Winter did the right thing. Having someone close when you’re processing something like this is important. It’s not easy to go through alone.”

“Yeah. I guess.” Shaking her head, she gestured towards the conveyor belt. “Hey, how about we grab a plate? I’m sure you’re starving and they’ve got spicy tuna!”

“Ugh, I wish.” The Faunus grimaced, putting a hand on her stomach. “I think the airline food made me sick. I don’t think I can swallow a bite.”

That sounded serious, especially considering her friend’s stated love of seafood,  _ especially _ tuna. “That’s no good. Maybe some hot tea will help settle it? I think they’ve got jasmine.”

“I’m not sure. Rest might be the better option.”

“At least try some; I know how much tea helps settle you.” Yang made a gesture, calling over the waitress and ordering the tea while accepting her water. As the woman left, she turned her attention back to Blake. “So, how are things between you and Weiss?”

“Probably about the same as between you and Winter.” She raised a brow. “Though, if you’re willing to spill details, I might as well.”

“Everything’s going good! It’s hard, ya know, acclimating to Atlas, but I’m growing to love it.” A smile curled her lips. “And my choice in roommate helps.”

“I’m sure it does.”

“How’s Weiss adjusting to Menagerie?”

“She likes it more than she lets on.” A careless shrug. “She doesn’t say much one way or the other, honestly.”

Yang chuckled. “That doesn’t sound like her. She’s never been afraid to make her opinion known.”

“You know how she can be sometimes.”

“A brat?”

“Just a bit.”

They both laughed at that as the waitress returned, carrying a pot of hot jasmine tea… and only one cup, which was set in front of Yang.

Immediately, Yang frowned, not expecting to run into lingering racism that still seemed disturbingly prevalent in Atlas society. “Uh, excuse me? I need one for my friend, too.”

“Hmmm?” The waitress looked genuinely surprised. “Oh, right, just the one?”

“Yeah.” Although she tended to give people the benefit of the doubt, her tone turned a bit annoyed at the blatant disrespect as her brow furrowed.

“Of course, just a moment.”

As the waitress turned away, Yang shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Sometimes, I forget that Atlas still hasn’t gotten with the times entirely.”

Blake offered a shrug. “It happens.”

That made her expression sour even further. “Look, I get that you’re trying to treat me with kid gloves, but you don’t have to be like this- accommodating and rolling over and all that.”

“Well, how about we just go back to your house?” The Faunus suggested. “No one to worry about there, right?”

Before she could respond, her scroll chimed, and she flicked it open to see a message from Blake.

_ Here! _

“Heh, just got your message. That’s weird.” She looked up as the waitress returned with the second cup, to find the seat across from her empty. “Where’d she go?”

“I’m sorry?” The waitress tilted her head in askance.

“My friend, did you see where she went?”

The woman began to look a bit worried. “I… didn’t, no. Can you describe her?”

“What do you mean-”

“There you are!” At hearing Blake’s voice, Yang turned, and… found herself…  _ really _ confused. In the span of a few seconds, her best friend had managed to change clothes  _ and _ get a haircut, raven tresses just barely reaching her shoulders. A rolling suitcase clacked along behind her as she approached the table, the straps of a backpack standing out against her long white jacket and- now that she thought on it, Blake didn’t have any luggage with her when she first sat down. “Sorry, hit a bit of traffic on the way over.”

“That’s… fine?” Yang blinked, trying to process the last few minutes.

The Faunus, noticing her odd demeanor, offered the waitress a polite smile. “I’m sorry, could you give us a minute?”

“Yeah, sure,” the woman replied, not seeming the slightest bit rude or dismissive towards Blake as she left them. 

When her best friend sat down- again- and tucked her luggage under the table, amber eyes watched her filled with worry. “Talk to me, Yang. You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

“I was  _ just _ talking to you,” she said, swallowing hard while drumming her fingers on the table. “Like, you came in, sat down, we started catching up- and then you were gone, and now you’re here, and-“

“Yang, slow down.”

“I’m  _ not _ crazy.”

“I didn’t say you were. Just… you’ve been through a lot and your mind might be playing tricks on you. How did you sleep last night?”

“I slept fine!” With a frustrated growl, she ran a hand through her hair. “You were  _ just _ telling me how the airship food upset your stomach and how Weiss hasn’t said much about moving to Menagerie and-“

“Okay, stop right there.” Blake held up a finger. “How many years have we known each other?”

“Five.”

“When have I  _ ever _ eaten the food on an airship?”

Yang opened her mouth to respond and… realized the Faunus had a good point. “I… didn’t think of that.”

“Alright, and when have you  _ ever _ known Weiss to keep her opinions to herself?”

“That’s what I said! And then you said ‘well, you know how she can be’, and I said-“

“Wait, wait, Yang. Listen to me.”

“I’m not-“

“ _ Listen _ .” Blake stressed, reaching out and taking one of her hands. “Walk me through the whole thing from the very beginning. From when you arrived up until I sat down.”

Although frustrated, Yang did exactly that, trying to be as detailed as possible while they both grabbed plates of sushi and started eating their lunch. They shared the pot of jasmine tea and interacted with the waitress a few more times- without issue, of course. By the time they’d finished two plates of rolls and a pot of tea, she’d finished relaying all the events up until Blake sat down.

“So, there.” She clicked her set of chopsticks towards her friend. “ _ That _ is what happened, I swear it.”

“Okay.” The Faunus nodded, pouring herself a fresh cup of tea as their waitress brought them a new pot. “Okay.”

“That’s it?”

“I’m… trying to find an explanation aside from the one that immediately popped into my head.” She waved a hand. “Because the one I have… isn’t exactly rational.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well… look at it this way.” Blake’s ears flicked back. “If you  _ had _ imagined me sitting down, looking the same way you last saw me, and it  _ was _ all in your head… wouldn’t I have said things that made more sense?”

“Like what?”

“I would’ve agreed with you that Winter overreacted, for one.” A shrug. “Maybe deep down you know you need some help but… you kinda give people lectures-”

“Okay, please, not this again.” Putting a hand to her head, she tried waving off the sentiment. “I’ve already gotten it from Winter  _ and _ Ruby.”

“See, that’s what I mean!” The Faunus motioned between them. “This? You don’t want to talk about this, you want to talk and think about other stuff.  _ I _ am the one bringing it up. And if I was a figment of your imagination, I…”

“Wouldn’t… bring it up because it’s all in  _ my _ head and  _ I _ don’t want to deal with this.” Yang slowly started to nod. “Okay, okay, now I’m following. But, you  _ didn’t _ agree with me on everything that first time.”

“Which is why I  _ don’t _ think it was a figment of your imagination, at least not entirely.”

“Then what was it?”

Blake drew in a steadying breath. “I think it was a ghost.”

At that, Yang just blinked. “You’re fucking with me.”

“I  _ swear _ I’m not.” She reached down to her backpack and pulled out a paperback book with  _ exactly _ the sort of artwork she’d expect from her best friend’s literary tastes. “Just hear me out.”

“Really? Seriously?”

“Look, it might be a paranormal romance book, but it  _ does _ seem to have a lot of research behind it.” The Faunus opened the book, flipping through the pages. “One of the spirits the protagonists encounters pretends to be someone the protagonist knows, but can’t fake the person’s knowledge. The spirit is essentially an illusion, altered by the protagonist’s perception of her friend, but the spirit can’t supply any information that the friend would know, and that’s what tips off the protagonist to it being a spirit.”

“Blake, are you even listening to yourself?” Yang shook her head. “Ghosts aren’t real.”

“Yeah, and you’re not crazy, but you somehow had a full-blown conversation with someone who looked  _ just like me _ , but from before I cut my hair, and who mysteriously disappeared when I showed up.” Her friend raised a brow. “Which one’s more likely?”

“First, when  _ did _ you cut your hair? And why?” She put up her hands. “I mean, it looks  _ good _ , don’t get me wrong, but… ya know, kinda strange after so many years with it long.”

“Just a few days ago. I wanted a change.” A shrug. “Thought, you know, living with Weiss full time in Menagerie is like starting a new journey, so why not make a fresh start?”

“I get that.” With a nod, Yang sighed heavily. “So, either I hallucinated the conversation with you earlier or I was talking to a ghost. Those are the only possible options. That’s what you’re telling me.”

Blake set her book down on the table between them and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m willing to hear  _ your _ perfectly rational explanation.”

Unfortunately, she didn’t have that and sat back in her chair while mirroring her friend’s posture. “Since when can ghosts pull off illusions like that? And why would a ghost be coming after me anyway?”

“Maybe it’s one of the people you found?” The Faunus seemed to cast around for a suitable explanation. “I mean, according to the book, spirits typically become harmful apparitions when a strong emotion they felt just before death consumes their soul, preventing them from resting in peace. Does… that sound like something that might’ve happened to the people you found?”

“I… don’t think so… but…” Yang shifted uncomfortably, looking around at the other patrons of the restaurant before lowering her voice and leaning forward. “The… cops think  _ I _ killed them.”

“What?” Blake looked absolutely bewildered. “Why?”

“Because what I saw… wasn’t true.” Her tongue darted out to wet her lips as her friend leaned forward as well to meet her halfway. “When I found them, it looked like they’d either committed suicide or fallen- four of them had ropes around their necks while the other one looked like he’d fallen off a ladder. But, I used my scroll to take a video, and it… didn’t match my story.”

“How so?” The Faunus watched her intently, both feline ears flicked forward in interest.

“All of them had bruises around their necks,  _ hand _ -shaped bruises.” She paused, focusing on keeping her breathing steady. “They were strangled by  _ someone _ , and the last one? She was killed  _ while _ I was there.”

Blake’s eyes widened as she sat back, lips pressing into a thin line. “Okay. New theory.  _ They _ were the ones being haunted, and  _ you _ just happened to catch the ghost’s attention when you showed up in the middle of everything.”

“Well. Okay.” Pushing out a breath, she leaned back and covered her face with both hands. “I’m not saying that I buy this. But, if there  _ isn’t _ another explanation... what do I do?”

“Try to appease the spirit. Burn sage. Uh… use salt to… form a barrier?”

“Is that from your book?”

“Look, if you want, we can go to a bookstore and do some research. There’s gotta be something on the occult in just about any shop in Atlas; it’s a fairly popular genre.” Blake shrugged. “And, really, what’s the alternative? What would you  _ rather _ be the truth, Yang?”

At that, she didn’t have a satisfactory answer. But she knew one thing. “I’m not crazy.”

“Then, let’s at least try.” 

Yang nodded, pulling out her wallet and laying down enough lien to cover their meal. Some part of her couldn’t believe she was entertaining this supposed solution but, honestly, she didn’t have anything better to go off of and it couldn’t  _ really _ hurt, could it? Maybe they’d get so distracted by their ‘research’ that she’d forget about the whole thing entirely.

She could only hope.


	4. The Ghost

After three bookstores and five hours, Yang understood two things: that Blake still had no self-control when it came to her literary tastes and that way too many people thought ghosts were real. In hindsight, she should’ve anticipated the first but the second proved beyond her capacity to judge, though the plethora of information on the subject gave them plenty to work with in terms of material. Unfortunately, nothing disproved the ghost theory.

In fact, a lot of the books they found seemed to support the idea.

One of the books detailed how spirits who haunted people with the intention of killing them often took their victims in the same way they themselves died. At first, Yang didn’t think much of it, but then Blake pointed out how everyone appeared to be hanged to her yet had actually been strangled. The Faunus reasoned that the deaths appearing so similar to her probably stemmed from how the ghost died, which made a bit of sense. The fact the ‘ghost’ strangled them also seemed significant, as it likely meant the ghost had some power over the physical world and, as part of the ghost’s death, the marks left behind were important in some way. Perhaps the only evidence that could link the deaths to the ghost’s.

Throughout their dive into the occult, Yang sent texts to her girlfriend, leaving out the exact nature of their trip and simply saying she was hanging out with Blake at bookstores, which didn’t even prompt further questioning. Winter just hoped she was enjoying herself, which was a nice sentiment that brought a soft smile to her lips. Even if she found it a bit ridiculous to entertain the ghost theory, her girlfriend’s unquestioned support made her feel a bit better about the whole thing.

Then, a stray thought floated to the surface of her mind, thumbs hovering over the keys of her scroll as she prepared another text. With a small hum, she finished it up- a quick promise to enjoy herself- and sent it off before opening a search engine. Yang typed in how she assumed the name Officer Nikos had provided during their conversation would be spelled.

‘Amber Gale’ turned up a suggestion to correct it to ‘Amber Gail’, but she didn’t need to click on it; the first page already had plenty of links for her to peruse. Half of them referenced either charity work or a volleyball team while the other half were various headlines referencing the woman’s death. With a furrow in her brow, Yang clicked on one of the news articles, skimming through it before starting back over at the top.

It hurt her heart, poring over the details. Although a beloved member of the community and active in so many ways- including being a member of a recreational volleyball team- the Mistrali native had tragically committed suicide just a month ago. It seemed like many, many people mourned her loss and were left confused and bereft by her sudden departure.

She’d almost closed out of the page when a small line at the bottom highlighted in hyperlink caught her attention; some manner of addition to the story that warranted its own page. With a hum, she tapped on it, surprised to find that the new article filling her screen posed a troubling assertion: that Amber Gail’s suicide wasn’t a suicide at all. That it was, in fact, a homicide. Among the reasons cited, the reporter pointed out how the coroner quit shortly after completing the report and destroyed the majority of the evidence in the process- like sending the body for cremation as opposed to for burial as the family had requested. Adding in that the coroner seemed to disappear entirely and the listed reference she’d given turned out to be fake, the search for Dr. Neli Nootap seemed to be a big part of the driving force behind questioning Amber Gail’s death.

At the end of the article was a picture of the woman, bedecked in her volleyball uniform, standing next to a very familiar redhead.

Her mouth opened, ready to remark sarcastically ‘well, that explains it’ when it suddenly occurred to her… that it didn’t at all. If Detective Nikos knew Amber Gail was dead, then she couldn’t possibly expect for the woman to be the one Yang saw in the mansion. At the same time, she’d be hard-pressed to believe the police officer  _ happened _ to mention the name of a woman who  _ happened _ to have a teammate who looked  _ exactly _ like said detective.

“What the fuck,” she said, shaking her head and making to put her scroll away. As her eyes changed from looking at a relatively close distance to one further away and her vision focused, she looked just beyond the front windows of the bookshop, where Amber stood staring at her, that malevolent gleam in her eyes, prompting Yang to begin backpedaling away. “WHAT THE-”

“Yang?” Blake appeared at her side, a frown on her lips as her ears flicked about. “Are you alright?”

In the split second she was looking at her best friend, Amber disappeared, leaving her shaking and pointing at the window through which she’d seen the dead woman. “The- the woman, the one I saw at the manor.”

“You saw her again?” The Faunus looked around, obviously attempting to search out for herself what had shaken her so greatly. “Which way did she go?”

“She- she was just right there!” Yang waved a hand. “Standing right there, just outside!”

“Well, what did she do?”

A shake of her head. “Nothing, she was just… looking at me.” As she blinked and put a hand to her head, she tried to find a reasonable explanation. “I- I searched the name that Detective Nikos gave me and she might’ve killed herself a month ago.”

Blake raised a brow. “ _ Might _ have?”

“There’s some debate about it- false reports, no evidence, cover-up stuff.” Closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. “I… probably just need a nap or something. I’m seeing things.”

For a moment, she thought her best friend might suggest something else. “Hey, I still need to check into my hotel room. Why don’t we go there for a bit? Maybe you just need to take your mind off all this.”

With a heavy sigh, she nodded. “Yeah. Let’s do that.”

Although agreeing to throw in the towel, Blake still went through the checkout to purchase a few books that had to do with the occult and the afterlife. Frankly, Yang couldn’t bear to entertain the concept further, not wanting to truly believe she was being haunted by the ghost of a woman she’d never met. For one, she had little idea how she’d be able to explain that without others thinking she was crazy.

For another, she didn’t know how to make it stop.

* * *

Yang couldn’t even feign surprise when she followed the cab to Atlas’ most expensive hotel. Knowing her girlfriend as she did, she understood that the woman would splurge and spoil the few people she considered family even when asked not to, which almost always happened. This would just lead into another silly faux competition between Winter and Weiss over who could be the more gracious host.

After about ten minutes, she followed Blake into a swanky hotel room with an excellent view of the city far below. “I think I can see my house from here.”

Even if neither of them mentioned it, they were both highly aware that the Faunus was treating her with kid gloves for the moment. After her shakily assuring she could ride her motorcycle to the hotel, Blake had kept her voice soft and reassuring during their brief conversations while checking in as Yang focused on putting the previous hallucination- it could be nothing else- from her mind. To distract herself, she took a picture on her scroll and sent it to Winter with a cheeky little message.

“Yang?” Lilac eyes slid to meet amber. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Talk about what?”

“I mean… we’re walking down one of two roads here.” She held up one hand. “On the one hand, you’ve been hallucinating after a traumatic event and probably need to seek some medical attention.” Then, the other. “Or, you’re being haunted by a seriously pissed off ghost.”

“So, essentially, there’s no winning for me, huh?” She grumbled, shoulders slumping. “Either I’m crazy or haunted?”

“Well, if we’re being honest, being haunted is a little bit better than being crazy.”

“How so?”

“You can still be rational when you’re being haunted.” Blake pulled out one of the books she’d bought. “And I think we’ve got the pieces we need to put together.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. I mean, if the woman you saw has a mysterious death, then we’re halfway to figuring out why  _ you’re _ being haunted by her, and how she might be appeased.” A nonchalant shrug. “It’s a chance for answers if we look into it.”

“What if the answers just lead to more questions?” Walking over to the swank couch, she plopped down and ran a hand through her hair. “From what I read, there’s already enough of those.”

“Recap it to me.” Her best friend sat beside her on the couch, crossing one leg over the other. “Maybe I can find the pieces I’m looking for from what you tell me.”

Rolling her eyes, she opted to indulge the Faunus. “Amber Gail was basically a hometown hero. Volunteered when she could, valedictorian of her class, volleyball star who got a scholarship to the local college, stayed on as a coach- she was a big part of the community and then she was found hanging from a tree in her backyard.”

“... did she use a rope?”

Yang blinked. “Uh… that’s… a good question.” Her eyes narrowed as she recalled the information. “Yeah, I think she did; there was something about how the bruising on her neck didn’t match the rope.”

“Sounds familiar, huh?”

Shifting forward, she began putting more thought to it. “Okay, so there’s a lot of similarities. But why would a woman who committed suicide suddenly start killing people? Especially someone who was damn near a saint beforehand?”

“Well, it’s like you said in the bookstore. Maybe she  _ didn’t _ commit suicide.” Opening the book in her hands, Blake started flipping through the pages. “Let’s run with this theory. Amber Gail was murdered, but her murderer staged it to look like a suicide. Pissed off, she comes back from beyond the grave to…”

“Take revenge.” Yang’s eyes widened as it all clicked. “The diary.”

“The what?”

“After I saw Amber the first time, there was a little red book and I picked it up. It’s… pretty fucked up.”

“Fucked up how?”

“It’s basically someone documenting how they became a serial killer and never got caught.”

Blake’s ears perked at that. “Okay, possible third option.”

“Which is?”

“That Amber Gail  _ didn’t _ die, her death was staged, and  _ she _ wrote that book.” The Faunus pressed her lips into a thin line. “You’re being stalked by a very elusive serial killer.”

“I almost hope it’s that one, because that’s something I can punch in the face,” she replied with a soft chuckle, rubbing at her jaw. “I was kinda thinkin’ Cinder wrote it, though. Plus, I know they’re saying the coroner might’ve tampered with the evidence and all that but I doubt she could’ve gotten the identification wrong without being caught immediately, ya know?”

“That’s a fair point. Maybe they’ve already figured that part out.” Blake retrieved her scroll. “What was the coroner’s name?”

“Dr. Neli Nootap, I think.”

“Neli… Nootap?” Her expression scrunched up. “Odd name, don’t you think?”

“I guess.”

A thoughtful hum. “Okay, no, she was positively identified by a friend. Probably not a serial killer who faked her death, then.”

“Victim of a serial killer, maybe?” Yang shrugged. “Maybe that’s why she went after those five; one of them killed her, and she took revenge.”

“Spirits tied to the world of the living by a need for revenge are… not good.”

“Define ‘not good’ in this context.”

Setting aside her scroll, Blake instead turned to the book and began reading aloud. “The saying goes ‘when seeking revenge, one should remember to dig two graves’ but when it comes to those lost in the throes of intentional malice, the number is often much higher. Apparitions tied to the world of the living by a perceived injustice may not be satisfied by taking revenge on the offending party. In this way, these spirits are some of the most dangerous, difficult to appease and impossible to predict; they can select new targets based off attributes shared with the source of their rage or those that mirror their own, a futile attempt to transfer their unfortunate fate to another in a desperate bid to achieve peace- or, a further descent into the darkness that claims those souls lost to such an unforgiving end.”

“So… she’s not going to stop, huh?”

“Hold on, let me… see… ah, here.” After turning a few more pages, the Faunus began to read aloud. “Spirits driven by revenge will sometimes find peace when the truth of their demise is made public knowledge, or when such knowledge is given to a specific person important to the spirit in life. As with many other apparitions, these spirits are particularly attached to the truth behind their deaths.”

Yang nodded slowly. “Okay, does that mean if I solve the mystery of Amber’s death, she might leave me alone?”

“It’s possible?” She flipped through a few more pages. “Oh, there’s rules for being haunted.”

“Really?”

As Blake handed over the book, Yang skimmed through the pages, picking out the pertinent information. Apparently, spirits could attach themselves to people, but being attached to a living person was less permanent than an inanimate object. Usually, spirits chose objects that either had significance to them in life, were tied to their death, or allowed them access to continue haunting specific individuals. Which, tied into one of the rules for being haunted: don’t bring strange, abandoned objects into your home or invite strangers past your threshold. 

“A living person’s house is inherently tied to that person, and as such is a sort of safe haven to protect them from outside spirits.” Yang read, brows furrowing. “However, when a person dies within a home, that home becomes marked by death, and no longer affords protection against outside spirits. Similarly, if a living person invites a malicious spirit into their home, the protection is lost as well.”

“ _ Oh _ .” Blake’s expression lit up. “That makes sense!”

“How?”

“The me that sat down first, what did she want to do?”

Yang’s brows rose. “Go back to my house. If I’d said yes-”

“The spirit would be invited into your house.” The Faunus gestured towards the book. “You might not  _ want _ to believe it, but it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to read through that book just in case.”

“Yeah… yeah.” She turned the page. “Maybe you’re right.”

The two continued poring over the book, making it easier for Yang to ignore the rational side of herself that insisted she was buying into a convenient excuse. Even if that was true, she needed  _ something _ to hold onto, else she might very well lose her mind at this rate.

* * *

After a few more hours, Yang and Blake parted ways. Winter would be home soon and Blake wanted to catch a nap before Weiss arrived on her red-eye. As she mounted up on her bike, she pulled out her scroll to check it before heading home and found that Glynda had texted her during the trip down in the elevator.

_ I have something of yours. Could I come drop it off to you? _

In her mind, she mapped out the city, the locations of the hotel, Miss Goodwitch’s house, and her own before tapping out a response.

_ I’m on your side of the city, actually; I’ll drop by in a few minutes. _

Stowing her scroll in her pocket, Yang’s bike roared to life as she straddled it, pulling away from the hotel and heading for the woman’s home. She’d only been over a few times, exchanging books or carpooling to sessions during her probationary period, but she had the sense of direction that she rarely forgot a location if she’d gone there more than once. Meanwhile, in the back of her mind, she wondered what she could’ve possibly left with Glynda. 

Sure enough, she found her way to the woman’s home easily, parking in the driveway beside her modest sedan. Yang always thought it a bit curious- as far as she knew, Glynda didn’t have any family, so a full sized car seemed a waste- but ignored it for the moment in favor of heading to the front door. Maybe she just liked the safety of a larger vehicle, something Yang couldn’t sympathize with in the slightest.

As she stepped up to the stoop, she hit the doorbell and stepped back, watching her reflection in the screen door. She fiddled with her hair while waiting and hit the doorbell a second time.

“Come on, Glynda.” She muttered, pulling open the screen door and using her fist to pound on the wooden door that… drifted open upon contact. Apparently, it wasn’t entirely closed in the first place. “Glynda?”

Pulling out her scroll, she sent a quick text, hearing the  _ ping _ of it being received coming from just around the corner.

“Glynda?” She stepped inside cautiously, noting the postmodern decor. Everything appeared to be in its place.

As she rounded the corner, she came to the living room. Everything seemed to be in its place… save for Glynda, hanging from the ceiling fan overhead, glasses knocked askew as her eyes stared out, unseeing. The rope around her neck taut as her lifeless body swayed gently.

Yang’s heart pounded in her chest, eyes widening. Then, her scroll pinged, and she tore her gaze away to look at it in her hand.

A new message from Glynda.

_ You can’t avoid your fate forever. _

With shaking thumbs, she typed out a response.

_ Who are you? What do you want? _

Then she heard the  _ ping _ , looking up to see two things: Glynda’s scroll sitting on the coffee table beneath her and a reflection in the glass of a large window on the other side of the room. Not just hers, though, as behind her stood Amber.

Blindly, she turned and swung her fist, connecting with nothing- no one was there, absolutely nothing, and as she backed up in fear while wildly looking to see where the damned woman had gone, Glynda’s body dropped behind her, crashing onto the coffee table.

At that, Yang booked it out of the house, making it out to the front yard before looking back. From the outside, nothing looked amiss, even as the front door slammed behind her without any prompting from her. But inside, Glynda was dead, and likely had been since at least yesterday.

She almost called for the police but paused, a new fear creeping into her mind.

If she called the cops, they’d think it was  _ her _ who killed Glynda- without even looking, she’d be willing to bet the rope had disappeared, and the likelihood that she’d stumble upon  _ six _ dead bodies in  _ two  _ different locations without having anything to do with their deaths-

Yang shoved her scroll into her pocket and jumped on her bike, jamming her helmet onto her head. She tore out of the driveway, heading straight home as her mind and heart raced. She swerved between vehicles, ignoring the blaring horns from ticked off drivers. When she got home, she rushed inside, throwing her helmet somewhere in her haste to get to the bedroom, diving under the covers and pulling the pillow over her head.

When she was a child- before Summer died- she used to hide beneath the covers when particularly strong storms ravaged their little island home. Now, it seemed the only recourse she had; a small voice pointed out she could’ve easily gone to Blake’s hotel room, which would’ve been closer, but she hadn’t considered it in the moment. This was  _ her _ problem, and she’d figure out a way to face it… once she could stop shaking, stop seeing Glynda’s blank, frozen expression every time she closed her eyes.

Then, her scroll began to ring, and she pulled it out to see it was Ruby calling, the screen lighting up in the darkness under the covers but indicating a voice-only call.

Composing herself as best she could, she answered in a shaky voice. “Ruby?”

“Yang? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” she lied through her teeth, trying to sound sure of herself. The last thing she wanted to do was worry her little sister. “Don’t worry about me.”

“You know I will anyway. Do you want me to come over?”

Although still struggling to keep herself together, those words stuck out to her. “What do you mean? You’re- you’re in Vale.”

A few beats of silence as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. “Invite me in, Yang.”

“You’re not Ruby,” she said, taking a shaky breath.

“You can’t hold out forever.” Then, the voice began to change, becoming unrecognizable and scratchy, almost choked. “You can’t!”

Yang closed the scroll and lifted up the covers enough to toss it, the device hitting the far wall before she shut her eyes tight and curled in on herself.

It had to be in her head. It  _ had _ to be. Because she couldn’t  _ fight _ a ghost, couldn’t stop it, couldn’t figure it out, and couldn’t trust anything, least of all her own senses.

It  _ had to be _ that she was crazy. Crazy, she could deal with. She could get help, maybe get cured.

A ghost… she couldn’t.

“Yang?” She heard Winter’s voice calling for her, but she couldn’t muster up the voice to respond. “Sundrop?”

The voice got closer and she fought to keep quiet, unable to trust her own senses at present. Footsteps got closer, approaching the bed, and she tried to keep still.

Something grabbed the covers and began to lift it and she whimpered, shuffling as far away as possible.

“Yang?” When the covers lifted up, she saw her girlfriend’s concerned expression watching her, brows pinched together as she slowly sat on the edge of the bed. “What’s wrong?”

After a moment, she rushed forward, throwing her arms around the woman and burying her face in Winter’s neck. “It- it’s you.”

“Of course it’s me. What happened?”

Right then, she realized she had a choice. If she told Winter the truth, her girlfriend might think her crazy or even scold her for running from Glynda’s house without calling the police. If she lied, she might save face but then she’d be alone with the thoughts and fears swirling around her heart. 

In the end, which would be worse?

“Blake thinks I’m being haunted by a ghost… and I think she might be right,” she said in a soft, low voice.

She half expected ridicule- a scoff of disbelief. Winter was well grounded in facts, in reality, in a world that didn’t have time for silly superstitions. How could she understand?

“What can I do to help?”

Surprised, Yang drew back, seeing nothing but sincerity looking at her. “You… believe in ghosts?”

“No,” Her girlfriend replied, keeping her voice and expression gentle. “But if that’s what you believe is happening, then I will do whatever I can to help you. Just tell me what you need me to do.”

Tears sprang to her eyes. “I don’t  _ know _ .”

“Then, we’ll figure it out together.” Leaning down, Winter drew her into a sweet kiss. “I may not believe in the supernatural but I know that we’re both much tougher than any mere ghost.”

“But she’s already killed so many people!” Despite her girlfriend’s attempt to reassure her, her tears fell anyway. “Cinder, Emerald, Roman… Glynda…”

“Miss Goodwitch? Your co-worker? She’s dead?” Yang nodded. “How do you know?” At that, she just shook her head slowly, her gaze slowly dragging towards her scroll. “Would it be easier if I looked?”

“Yeah,” she replied in a shaky voice, allowing the woman to leave her side to retrieve the device. That she immediately returned, wrapping an arm around Yang’s shoulders, almost shielding her from the dark thoughts swirling in her mind- it helped, a little.

But some part of her feared that Winter would open her messages and find nothing, much like with the video- something else to drive her insane, to question her perception of reality. However, as her girlfriend navigated to the messages, she felt relief wash over her as the messages appeared exactly as she remembered.

“You found her dead, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Did she send you these messages?”

“No. I-I texted her while I was there, watched her scroll go off… then got the last message.”

“Ah. I see.” Winter closed her scroll. “Is that all?”

“No, she- she pretended to be Blake and Ruby- I think she needs me to… invite her inside the house.” Curling into her girlfriend, she allowed herself to break down just a bit further. “I don’t know what to do- I can’t even trust myself. I  _ saw _ Blake, I  _ heard _ Ruby… I feel like I’m losing my mind.”

“Sundrop.” The woman comforted her, speaking softly and cradling her. “We’ll figure this out. There  _ must _ be some manner of combating this spirit.”

Although reluctant to admit it, Yang cleared her throat. “Blake… bought some books about hauntings. I read one of them…”

“Did it contain a method of stopping the, uh, haunting?”

Her eyes squeezed shut. “No.”

“Well… then we’ll have to get more books,” she replied, pressing a kiss to the crown of Yang’s head. “We’ll find a way to survive this.”

“You… you don’t think I’m crazy?” A shuddering breath. “Wouldn’t it be easier if I was?”

“You’re not crazy. I know that beyond a shadow of a doubt.” She soothingly rubbed a hand up and down Yang’s back. “You need to rest. I’ll take care of dinner tonight- order in, of course.”

Although likely meant to evoke a joke or tease from her, she couldn’t muster one and instead shook her head. “I really don’t think I can rest.”

“Try. For me?” Winter slowly pulled Yang into her arms, carrying her out of the bedroom and out into the living room. “I won’t be far from your sight, promise, and whatever this ghost is, I’ve yet to see it. To my mind, that means it can’t harm me, and I’ll be able to protect you.”

A mirthless chuckle left her lips. “You’re gonna be my white knight?”

“Or your warrior princess.” As they settled on the couch, her girlfriend pressed another kiss to her temple. “Just relax. I’ll be right here.”

For hours, she couldn’t comply with that simple request, eating mechanically when food finally arrived- one of her favorite take-out places, too- and remaining entirely detached through one of her favorite movies. Winter kept trying though and, eventually, she found herself sinking into the comfort of her girlfriend’s presence. Yet, the thoughts lingered in the back of her mind.

If she couldn’t find a way to stop the ghost… how long until it claimed  _ her _ life, too?


	5. The Kill

Although she didn’t remember going to bed, Yang awoke the next morning comfortably tucked in, warm beneath the covers. As she stretched, she opened her eyes to find Winter sitting beside her, dark bags under her eyes as she smiled softly. “Snowdrift? What happened?”

“You worried yourself too much last night,” she said, word tinged by tiredness. “By the time you fell asleep, I worried you wouldn’t be able to get enough rest if anything woke you up. I tucked you in and made sure you remained asleep.”

“You stayed up all night?” Her brow furrowed as she sat up. “Why?”

“Every time I left you for too long, you started to stir, as if in a bad dream.” Her girlfriend reached up, stroking the backs of her knuckles along Yang’s cheek. “It seemed the only way to calm you was doing this, and I couldn’t accomplish that while asleep.”

“You didn’t have to,” she replied in just above a mumble, a light blush rising in her cheeks. “You should’ve gotten some sleep.”

“ _ I _ am not the one being haunted by a murderous ghost.” Winter spoke in all seriousness. “You needed your sleep to be able to face today. We’ll need to figure out some manner of combating this and, right now, you’re the only one who can see her. This means  _ you _ can see the whole picture. You just need to find the proper vantage point.”

“This isn’t a battle where military tactics are gonna help.” Yang sighed, reaching up to grab her girlfriend’s hand and pressed a soft kiss to the palm. “I’m not sure if I  _ can _ stop her.”

“Of course you can; you’re Yang Xiao Long,” the woman replied, running a hand through blonde hair- the only person Yang had ever allowed to do such. “Your indomitable spirit is one of the things I love most about you. You’ll find a way to overcome this ghost.”

Were it anyone else, the words would’ve come off as dismissive or patronizing. From Winter, though, she whole-heartedly believed them, and took strength from the woman’s confidence in her. “I’ll look into it more after I get back home.”

“Are you still planning on going to work today?” Winter’s brows furrowed. “Or, do the police want to talk to you again?”

“They… don’t know I was there.” Her expression fell. “I… didn’t call them.”

Although obviously surprised, her girlfriend nodded and hummed. “Well, I don’t think returning to work is wise. You’ve been through a fair amount of trauma over the past few days.”

“I can’t just quit my job.” Pressing her lips into a thin line, Yang shook her head. “If I lose my job over this, I’m definitely not winning.”

Winter watched her for a moment and then sighed. “I won’t stop you but, for the record, I don’t agree with this. I’m worried you’re pushing yourself too hard.” She got to her feet, her back popping loudly as she grimaced. “Ah. Saw that coming.”

“Maybe  _ you _ should stay home today,” she said, following her girlfriend to the bathroom. “You stayed up all night… you’re gonna be pretty tired.”

“Nonsense; I’ve stayed up far longer and done far more during and afterwards.” The two of them began getting ready for the day side-by-side, but Yang watched the woman’s sluggish movements. How it took her a bit longer than usual to get her hair into the impeccable bun she always wore and how she almost grabbed the wrong toothpaste before pausing and taking the correct one.

“You sure you’ll be alright tonight?” With a raised brow, she watched Winter grab a washcloth and dab at her mouth after brushing her teeth. “Might be dangerous to drive in your condition, don’t ya think?”

Her girlfriend appeared both surprised and slightly offended at first but didn’t respond immediately, apparently pondering the question. “Would you feel better if I carpooled to work today?”

“Yeah.” Lightly, she touched Winter’s shoulder, rubbing it gently. “With everything else going on, being a little cautious is a good idea, right?”

Although obviously not pleased with the notion, the woman nodded. “Very well. I’ll call Terry.”

“Thank you, Snowdrift.” Yang leaned over for a quick kiss before the two of them set about getting ready for the day. 

* * *

After kissing her girlfriend goodbye, Yang set out for the train station. Remembering vividly her flight from Glynda’s house and trying to maintain control of her bike throughout made her opt to take the train again. After all, she couldn’t rightly voice her concerns about Winter driving while tired and then put herself in a similarly dangerous situation. Well, she couldn’t do that and  _ not _ get a lecture about it, anyway.

While on the train, she sent a few texts to Blake, staunchly ignoring the conversation with Glynda sitting at the top of her messages. She also sent a few to Ruby, letting them both know that she was doing alright and trying to figure out how to move forward. While her best friend understood what she meant- and promised to do some more research, now that Weiss had arrived in Atlas- she didn’t want to burden her sister with the supernatural theory  _ just _ yet.

However, any thought that she might have a chance for a ‘normal’ day were dashed when she turned the corner and found a familiar redhead standing just outside the Agency doors.

“Good morning, Miss Xiao Long.”

“Detective Nikos,” she replied, regarding the woman warily. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“I’m afraid there’s been a… recent development.” She nodded towards the Agency’s doors. “I’ll need to speak with you and your employer, as well as any other employees he can call in.”

Her heart began beating faster as she tried to keep her voice steady. “Do I get to know what you need to talk to us about?”

“One of your coworkers, Miss Goodwitch. She was found dead yesterday.” Emerald eyes watched her steadily. “I would like to know about your last interaction with her. In person, phone calls, texts- whatever you can remember.”

In that moment, Yang knew that the detective knew she’d been at the house and she swallowed hard. “Sure. Let’s go inside first.”

“After you.”

Leading the way into the building, she tried her hardest to remain calm. Seeing as she lacked a conventional alibi and explanation, Yang didn’t know exactly how she’d manage to convince the detective she had nothing to do with Glynda’s death. Add to that the damning messages on her scroll, and things weren’t looking good for her.

However, her worries and concerns quickly derailed as she came around the corner to Mr. Ozpin’s office and stopped cold in her tracks, her heart sinking. There, strung up over his desk, hung her boss with his eyes glazed over and glasses askew. Much like with Glynda and Emerald, the rope around his neck suddenly went slack, allowing him to crash to the ground, but Yang remained frozen in place.

Horror crept into her as she realized- Amber wouldn’t stop. Couldn’t  _ be _ stopped. And she’d lose everyone around her while awaiting her own fate.

“I’m sorry, Miss Xiao Long.” Jerkily, she turned towards Detective Nikos, who didn’t seem the least bit surprised by the scene before them. “I’m afraid you’re the last one left.”

“The… last… one?”

The woman nodded solemnly. “When a vengeful spirit gets invited into a home, all who enter become marked. The spirit then hunts them relentlessly, as part of their revenge. The paramedics are already gone. The detectives, crime scene techs, even a foolish reporter. It’s only a matter of time until Miss Goodwitch is discovered, and the cycle begins again.”

Yang took a step back. “You- you said the cops already knew-“

“How would they?” Detective Nikos raised a brow. “You didn’t tell them.” Her gaze slid towards the office’s interior. “He didn’t have a chance to call.”

“But, you- you’re a cop.” Even as she said the words, Yang got the sick feeling that they weren’t true.

The way the woman smiled just amplified that. “Not quite.” Reaching up, she undid the tie and top button on her uniform, exposing the green and purple bruising around her neck. “I was the first one Amber killed. And, with luck, he might be the last.”

When the detective raised her arm, reaching out towards Yang, she reacted on violent instinct- she swiped at the arm, attempting to bat it away. But she met no resistance, touched nothing but a line of frigid air. Then, it truly sunk in deep.

“You’re… a ghost.” Her blood turned cold. “Just like Amber.”

“Yes. Unlike her, I don’t want to kill you.” Her expression softened. “I’m trying to save you both.”

Yang didn’t want to listen, bolting past the apparition and running out of the door, heading back towards the train station. Despite the harsh coldness of the air rushing into her lungs, she didn’t stop until she reached the kiosk, shaking hands jamming on the screen to get her return ticket printed off. While the one that would stop closest to her house didn’t leave for another twenty minutes, a train just pulled up that would go to the next nearest station, and she resolved to take that one instead. With fear still coursing through her body, she felt it might be quicker to  _ run _ the distance.

As she hurried into the train just before it departed, Yang tried to catch her breath while staggering to the back of the car. She slumped into the back seat, leaning her head against the cool window pane and closing her eyes.

“You can’t run from this.”

Her eyes shot open, jumping and pressing herself into the corner as Detective Nikos suddenly appeared in the seat beside her. Except, she didn’t wear a police officer’s uniform this time, bedecked in plain clothes one would normally wear during winter, a scarf wrapped around her neck. “You-”

“If you keep talking to me, someone’s liable to think you’re crazy.” Emerald eyes darted away briefly. “And we both know you aren’t.”

Slowly, she looked around the train car, noticing for the first time that she wasn’t alone on it.

“Miss Xiao Long… Yang.” She looked back, quizzical and the woman simply smiled. “There are few secrets in death. I can see everything that passes through your mind- who you are, where you’ve been, your friends, your family… your love.” A simple shrug. “Didn’t you wonder how she knew to take Blake’s form? Impersonate Ruby’s voice?”

“How do I stop her?” The words came out softly, trying not to draw anyone’s attention even as tears sprang to her eyes. “Who else has to die?”

“Right now, no one else. You’re the last one.”

“Why me?”

“Because she wants you to suffer.” The ghost sighed- and Yang couldn’t be sure if it was some sort of holdover from her life or a front put on so she didn’t seem so strange- before continuing. “In a lot of ways, you two are very similar. Almost one and the same. Generous, friendly, selfless- part of sports teams when you were younger, went to college on a scholarship from that sport, eventually went into teaching… she sees in you the life taken from her.”

“How is that  _ my _ fault?” She hissed, running a hand over her face. “I didn’t  _ choose _ this!”

“Neither did she, and that’s what makes her angry. The cosmic injustice of it all.” Pyrrha’s lips curled into a sad smile. “What keeps her here in this plane is that anger, that resentment; quell it, and her soul may find peace.”

“What about you?” She glanced at the ghost. “What’s keeping you here?”

“Her.  _ Amber _ is my unfinished business. When the killing stops, I’ll find peace.”

Taking a deep breath, Yang finally calmed her racing heart. It wasn’t a fight in a traditional sense but, if there was a problem, there had to be a solution. “I need to find out the truth behind what happened to her. Confront her with it. Remind her of who she  _ used _ to be. Then, she’ll be satisfied. Right?”

“That’s what I believe, but you must hurry.” The ghost began to turn transparent. “She wants to take everything from you, just as everything was taken from her. She won’t rest and your time is drawing shorter.”

The train pulled into the station, snapping Yang’s attention away. Nikos disappeared entirely as her attention snapped away to take note that she’d reached her stop and she wasted no time in hurrying off the train. Again, she ran the whole way home, slamming the front door behind her and locking it. The house seemed to be her last line of her defense, her only means of fending off the malevolent Amber.

Her mind raced, looking for where to resume her search for information, and her gaze landed on the little red book.

Grabbing it, she marched to Winter’s study, opting to skim through the book while doing searches on the terminal.

There  _ had _ to be a way to stop Amber.

And she  _ would _ find it.

* * *

Yang spent hours in the study, poring over the little red book and the various articles detailing Amber Gail’s life. Everything she learned just made her heart sit heavier in her chest.

The diary continued to detail the riches amassed by the group, all while the author racked up quite the body count. Slowly, the others became aware of the murders, eventually growing not only complicit but even encouraging of the homicidal tendencies. She had to keep taking breaks, to save her sanity from the deep, dark place the author kept dragging her.

Meanwhile, her searches dug a deeper hole into sadness. The visage she’d come to know as Detective Nikos was once Pyrrha Nikos, Amber’s high school sweetheart, violently murdered shortly after the woman’s funeral. The idea of so many people believing a lie about the loss of the two made Yang’s heart hurt, and she turned back to the book. 

Were the stakes lower- if she just had to sacrifice her hand or foot or something- she might not even continue. The gravity of the situation and the relentless nature of the spirit haunting her spurred her on and she dove back into the little red book.

_ We’ve found an even more amusing layer to add to our fun. We’ve been fantastically careful throughout all this, our true names hidden from all but each other. With my account thus far, even without the full names of our victims, I’m sure someone clever enough will connect us all together. Now, I give a gift: the full, true names of those you may curse, as we will relish your curses even from the bowels of hell reserved especially for us. _

_ Emerald Sustrai. I’ll admit, she picked the name herself, and I’ve always thought it fit her rather well. _

_ Mercury Black. I expected he’d forsake his birth name after we circled back and killed his father but he feels like it’s a trophy of some sort. He’s the last Black now. _

_ Roman Torchwick. A man of his own invention, I don’t really believe anything aside from ‘Roman’ being his birth name. However, it suits him, so I won’t begrudge this little detail. _

_ Neo Politan. Her silence is perhaps one of her more charming attributes but she expresses herself in other ways. Usually with blood, which I can’t help but admire. _

_ And I am Cinder Fall. One day, my name will be known all over Remnant, provided as the ultimate example of a vile soul, and in that way, I will carve out my own spot in history.  _

_ Power, ultimately, is within the grasp of every person. The power to choose life or death. Exerting that power over someone else is the greatest expression of that and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon. _

Yang rubbed at her temple, unable to wrap her mind around it. She stared blankly at the page, at the obvious way the author- Cinder- relished the things she’d done. Her vision became unfocused as a darkness settled in her chest, now privy to information only known by the dead. Some of the entries were more detailed, describing how Cinder killed some of her victims and how the life fled them, and she’d never be able to forget those details entirely. Final words, final expressions, all belonging to people she didn’t know and never would.

Suddenly, she saw something- eyes focusing again as she blinked.

Neo Politan…

Grabbing a pencil and paper from inside Winter’s desk, she wrote the name out and then started rearranging the letters, quickly arriving at what she’d seen while unfocused on the page before her. Once switched around, the woman’s name spelled out quite a different one, though it remained familiar all the same.

Neli Nootap.

The coroner that covered up Amber’s death. It began to make more sense, how the whole thing had been pulled off. Sure enough, subsequent entries confirmed her suspicions, as Cinder’s penchant for toying with, torturing, and then murdering the group’s marks began to leave a trail. Thus, Neo became something of a ghost, inserting herself into investigations as either an EMT or coroner, sometimes even an innocent bystander, and using those positions to manipulate the facts and cover up the evidence that would link the murders together. Roman also assisted in this matter, when the situation called for it, and before long Yang had a clear picture of not only how high the body count had gotten but how much others had suffered because of the group.

But that just left the question: why Amber? Why did  _ she _ turn into a vengeful ghost? Why was  _ she _ the one to hunt the group down from the afterlife?

Again, Yang ran a hand through her hair with a frustrated growl. 

Even with all the pieces in front of her, whatever Nikos expected her to  _ find _ remained elusive.

She turned back to the diary and flipped past a few more pages, picking out only the words Cinder favored- little details she focused on during her kills, things that seemed to stoke  _ something _ as they seared themselves into Yang’s brain with ease, her stomach rolling with disgust. The entries catalogued the group’s movements through Vale and Vacuo, eventually moving to Mistral to continue their killing spree undetected, relying on the lack of communication between the kingdoms to keep their trail covered. It worked all too well.

Then, she landed on one of the last entries.

_ It’s a shame to peak so early in life- I’m in my prime after all- but when one creates a true masterpiece, what’s the point in trying to top it? What attempt could I make that would display my perfect control over the lives of others that could be more powerful than this? _

_ I don’t know the girl’s name, not off the top of my head. I knew she was well liked around town, though, and known even as far back as Vale. Moving to Mistral brought me closer to this woman, who might’ve had fame and fortune had she pursued her athletic career. Instead, she decided to become a boring teacher and a poster child for selflessness. Color me unimpressed. _

_ But she was well known. She was well liked. Now? She’s just a memory, fading with every passing day. _

_ Planning out her demise took me two months. I’m sad to say the fun part almost didn’t last long enough. _

_ I got everyone in on it. All eyes on us. Emerald posed as the unfortunate traveler, whose vehicle had broken down. Mercury waited until the door opened wide enough, then rushed in beside Emerald. Roman and Neo slipped in through the back door. The stage set, I made my appearance, standing over her, watching the fear shine in those light brown eyes. _

_ I think I’ll always remember that part. I had the others look, too. It made the visual all the sweeter, amplified her fear. I fed on it. _

_ She begged for her life, at the end. That’s the truth of mortality- it doesn’t matter how selfless we feign to be, how “good” we profess ourselves to be, it’s all a farce. When faced with death, we revert to the selfish, desperate little worms we are at heart.  _

_ That’s why power is, ultimately, an elusive thing. Death robs all of us of power. _

_ But me? No.  _

_ I am Death’s mistress, its master, and I decide who lives and who dies. _

_ And she died, this nameless worm, with my hands around her throat, making the first pass of the eraser over her name, her life, her very existence. Looming over her, watching as the light left her, riding the high that only comes with taking a life. _

_ When Roman and Mercury strung her up, I thought I’d never seen anything prettier. The media circus as this hometown hero had her legacy tarnished, marred by a darkness that drove her over the edge, will amuse me until my dying day. Honestly, I think attending the funeral itself, listening to the sorrow all around me… that was the perfect cherry on top.  _

_ I’d never done that before, attended the funeral of one of my victims. When we left the cemetery, I realised it would be impossible to top. I can’t possibly remain hidden from every cemetery worker or mortician in Remnant. Attending more funerals would give more people the chance to identify me and hiding myself is a waste. _

_ I’m not an idiot. I won’t get caught. But, I’ve found the pinnacle for the moment. It’ll take some time to find a more thrilling experience. _

_ Oh, and as a side note, targeting the fool came with a surprising bonus. She was rather wealthy, as it happens, and cleaning her out gave us quite a bit of funds to support us comfortably for a while. Emerald’s begged to go to Atlas, something about a fresh start. I’ll admit, I like the idea of white snow capped mountains. _

_ Stained with blood or not. _

Yang set the book down, squeezing her eyes shut.

In her mind, she could picture it clearly, the scene mapped out in her head and the expression Amber must’ve worn as she died. It probably didn’t differ too much from the one she wore when she screamed as a ghost. Except, instead of rage it was fear that painted the look in her eyes.

“Don’t look her in the eyes,” she said, finally realizing  _ why _ that look haunted Emerald so much. It was the inability to separate the two images- life and death, living and ghostly.

But it didn’t answer what the ghost wanted. If it was revenge, she had that; all five of those who had a hand in her death were gone. Maybe it was restoring her legacy? Clearing her name? Ensuring everyone knew the truth?

What would it take to make the spirit find peace?

Before she could get back to her searching, her scroll began to ring. Warily, she checked it, seeing it was Winter and opening it to find her girlfriend’s visage.

A sigh of relief burst past her lips. “Hey, Snowdrift.”

“Hello, Sundrop.” The woman smiled. “Can you get the front door? My hands are going to be full.”

She raised a brow. “ _ Going _ to be full?”

“I brought home a surprise for you,” she said with a smirk. “But, I couldn’t hold it  _ and _ call.”

“Alright, I’m comin’.” As she got to her feet, her back cracked, a sign she’d spent far too long diving deep into her research. “I found out some more information, by the way.”

“About what?”

“Amber, the ghost that’s haunting me,” she replied, heading out of the study. “I’ll tell you all about it when you come inside.”

Her girlfriend’s smirk pulled wider. “Can’t wait.”

As the call ended, she tucked her scroll into her pocket and reached for the door, flicking the lock before small movement caught the corner of her eye. Yang glanced over into the living room and stopped, her blood running cold. There, lying on the couch, was Winter, her uniform jacket pulled off and thrown over the arm and bun just barely released, as if she’d barely had the energy to walk in the door before collapsing.

“W-winter?” Her heart stuttered in her chest. “WINTER?”

The woman snapped awake, blinking rapidly as she looked around, obviously confused. “Wha- what, Yang? You’re home?”

“WHEN DID  _ YOU _ GET HOME?” 

Her voice was loud, thunderous, and it seemed to shock her girlfriend into standing up and staring at her like she’d lost her mind. “Hours ago, I needed a nap-”

As Winter tried to defend herself while bewildered at the woman’s tone, the front door began to open, and Yang immediately slammed her shoulder against it to force it close. The doorknob rattled, and she almost lost the battle to keep it shut, but in the back of her mind, she realized it didn’t matter.

She’d already invited Amber in; it was too late to stop her coming.

“What’s going on?” Winter rushed to her side, pushing up the door with wide eyes. “Yang?”

“I’m sorry, I’m  _ so _ sorry.” The pressure on the other side of the door disappeared. “It’s her. I invited her in and I can’t stop her.”

“Her- the ghost?”

The sound of a door being whipped open and hitting the wall almost drew their gazes down the hallway, but Yang reacted quickly. She threw her arms around her girlfriend and turned, keeping Winter from looking down the hallway and staring down it herself while speaking.

“Snowdrift, listen to me,” she said, watching as darkness at the end of the hall took the form of Amber Gail, eyes glowing with malevolent intent. “Just- just don’t look into her eyes.  _ I’m _ the one she wants.” As the ghost stalked down the hallway, her voice wavered. “I think she wants the world to know that… she was  _ killed _ , she didn’t commit suicide.”

“Sundrop- Yang-” Winter replied, urgency in her voice as she returned the embrace, almost as if to prevent Yang from moving. “What are you-”

“I love you,” she said, watching in dismay as the admission of Amber’s fate did nothing to dissuade the vengeful spirit, still advancing down the hallway towards them.. “Don’t forget that.”

“Yang Xiao Long, you better not be giving up right now, I swear-”

“Run. Get out of here. Please.” Amber reached the end of the hall, a noose appearing in one hand. “I’m the one she wants.”

“No.” Just then, the ghost’s gaze snapped away. “Not anymore.”

Shocked, she pulled away, seeing Winter’s gaze focused elsewhere and following it to the screen mounted on the wall.

And the reflections.

“No!”

Again, the scream came, and they both let go of the other to cover their ears. Blindly, she reached out, grabbing her girlfriend’s hand and pulling her down the hallway, barreling through Amber’s incorporeal form and dashing into the bedroom, slamming the door behind them. It wouldn’t do anything- she recognized that on a rational level- but it gave her the  _ sensation _ that she’d bought them a little time.

“S-so, that’s the ghost.” Winter shakily nodded, running a hand through her hair.

“Yeah.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “Why did you- you should’ve ran. Now, she’s after you, too.”

Her girlfriend looked at her, even more bewildered than before. “You honestly expected me to  _ abandon _ you?”

Before she had a chance to respond, the bedroom door rattled, and they both turned to watch it. Winter reached for her hand, trying to provide comfort, but she couldn’t feel it herself. She knew what was coming.

“Snowdrift…” Yang looked back at the woman, hoping she’d understand. “I’m sorry.”

Without another word, she raced towards the bathroom, shutting the door and locking it.

“Yang!” Winter tried to follow her, twisting the doorknob to no avail. “Yang, what- why’d you lock the door?”

“I’m sorry, Winter, I love you, but I-” She shook her head, stepping away from the door. Amber wanted her to suffer, and killing her girlfriend in front of her would achieve that, but she had to  _ hope _ she could save the woman’s life. “I’m the one she wants.” She lifted her chin defiantly, fury beginning to course through her. Probably the same that propelled Amber on her spree. “Ain’t that right?  _ I’m _ the one you want, so come get me!”

Her hands clenched into fists as she turned, prepared to continue screaming, but then she caught her reflection in the mirror and saw Amber standing just behind her.

“Kill me,” she said, swallowing thickly. “Leave her alone.”

“Yang!” Winter’s voice turned panicked as she began pounding on the door. “Yang, don’t! We can beat this!”

“Please.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “Take me.”

Amber’s expression twisted as she grabbed Yang by the shoulders and slammed her against the bathroom counter. The impact nearly winded her, and she’d barely lost her balance before being lifted off her feet entirely and then driven down into the tile below.

She rolled onto her back- habit, instinct demanding she try to fight back and defend herself- but quickly found the spirit hovering over her, reaching for her throat. Nothing in her power could stop it from tightening around her neck and cutting off her airway, and she could feel the distinct pressure of hands on her skin even as her own found nothing to pry away. Even as she began to cry from the agony of choking and her vision became dominated by Amber looming over her, she had the presence of mind to have a crystal clear thought.

This was how Amber died.

Trying to do something helpful, selfless, and losing her life for it, her last moments filled with watching her murderer.

Aside from the blood rushing in her ears as her body screamed for her to fight back, she could hear Winter slamming into the door, trying to break it down.

Thoughts began to fall apart as her vision turned blurry.

_ Please… don’t… hurt… her… _


	6. The Deal

She heard the beeping first.

It made her open her eyes, finding the sterile white of a hospital room surrounding her, plus a few familiar faces.

“Yang!” Her sister’s expression lit up, jumping up from her seat to stand beside the hospital bed. “You’re awake!”

“What happened?” She croaked out, wincing at the pain in her throat.

“Well-”

“Miss Rose,” someone said, drawing her attention to the other side of her bed and seeing a man dressed like a detective, his blazer draped over a nearby chair so the badge on his belt was visible. He stood tall, wide shoulders giving him an imposing appearance, but he spoke softly as he approached her bedside. “I’m afraid I need to ask her a few questions first.”

“Right.” Ruby bit her lip, looking between the two of them. “Can… I stay here? She  _ just _ woke up…”

“That’s fine.” He nodded, pulling out a notebook and a pen, both looking almost comically small in his hands. “I’m Detective Ayana. Miss Xiao Long, can you describe the events as you remember them?”

Her brow furrowed, trying to think of what she  _ should _ say that wouldn’t get her committed to a psych ward. “Don’t really remember…” she reached up, touching her neck. “... someone… strangled me?”

“Did you recognize your attacker?”

She shook her head. “It was… a blur.”

The Detective nodded, scratching something out on his notebook. “Were you home alone during the attack?”

“Winter was home,” Yang said, suddenly becoming alarmed. “Where is she? Is she-”

“She’s okay.” The man gave her a small smile. “She’s… being supervised by one of my colleagues.”

“Why?”

Detective Ayana sighed, shrugging his shoulders. “Please, understand, we have to investigate all possibilities. When Miss Schnee notified the authorities, we had to consider her as a suspect in a domestic dispute-”

“That’s not what-” The vehemence with which she spoke made her start coughing, and Ruby gave her some water to soothe the ache in her throat. “Not what happened.”

“Do you know how your attacker entered your house?” She shook her head. “Any idea what the suspect might’ve been looking for? Any personal vendettas that come to mind?”

Again, Yang shook her head. “I… I don’t know… why me?”

Closing his notebook, the Detective seemed to take pity on her, setting a hand on her shoulder. “We just needed to rule out Miss Schnee as a suspect. We suspect it’s in connection to the Whitehill Mansion case. We’re going to put a protective detail on you and Miss Schnee while we continue to investigate the case.”

“Where’s Winter? Can I see her?”

With another small smile, he nodded, pulling out his scroll and sending a text. “I’m very sorry for your unfortunate circumstances. I wish both of you a speedy recovery.”

As he stepped out of the room, her gaze went to Ruby, who looked positively relieved. “Blake and Weiss are on their way; the cops chased them out because they aren’t family.”

Yang nodded slightly, letting out a breath as everything came back to her. Winter trying to break down the door, Amber looming over her, being unable to breath and letting go as she sank into darkness…

“How long have I been out?”

“A few hours.” Ruby tilted her head towards the window as daybreak spread across the horizon. “Winter bought me a red-eye before they… well… arrested her.”

She passed a hand over her face with a sigh. “They  _ arrested _ her?”

“From what it sounds like, your house was trashed, and she was kinda… confused? Plus, having the website for airship tickets open made them think she was trying to  _ leave _ Atlas.” Her sister offered a shrug. “I’m not saying it was a  _ good _ theory, but it was definitely  _ a _ theory.”

She thought about asking for a mirror, to see the bruising on her neck, but paused and decided against it. Every other time she’d seen Amber, she’d seen her  _ first _ through a mirror or pane of glass or  _ something _ with a reflection, and she couldn’t… take that risk. 

Not yet.

And when they wheeled in Winter- belatedly undoing the handcuff keeping her in the chair- tears sprang to Yang’s eyes. Her girlfriend had her right arm in a sling and bruising on the right side of her face, some cuts taped up and raw on her cheek, plus a bit of a limp as she moved to Yang’s bedside. Yet, she still looked absolutely gorgeous, and she immediately reached up and met the woman halfway when she leaned in for a kiss.

“Don’t you  _ ever _ give up,” Winter said softly as they parted, tears gathering in her eyes as well. With her good arm, she pulled Yang into a strong embrace, and for a moment, everything felt right. “I love you, you impossible woman. Don’t you  _ ever _ pull some shit like that again.”

Her lips curled slightly into a smile. “Sorry, Snowdrift. I had to be the warrior princess this time. Love you too.”

“I was  _ so _ scared.” She sighed heavily. “But it’s over now.”

Yang kept her smile in place, despite the nagging feeling in the bottom of her heart.

* * *

After a few more questions from police and doctors, both of them got discharged. Ruby called and let Weiss and Blake know, all of them agreeing to go out for breakfast. It seemed so… simple. So… mundane. After the events of the past few days, it almost didn’t feel real.

But her sister wheeled her down stairs while Winter stubbornly walked, shooting death glares at the attendants until ‘hospital policy’ became a mere suggestion. They chatted idly on the trip down, entirely avoiding any discussion of the ‘burglar’ or the murders, until they reached the lobby. At that point, Ruby needed to head back to her hotel room and Winter went to get their own cab to take them back home.

Yang remained seated in the wheelchair to keep her girlfriend from lecturing her, watching through the glass lobby doors as her sister and girlfriend went out to find their cabs. When the doors closed behind them, though, she saw in the reflection a figure standing just behind her shoulder and drew in a shaky breath.

“Why are you still here?” She watched as Amber reached forward and put a hand on her shoulder, eyes drifting closed as a memory filled her mind.

It wasn’t one of  _ her _ memories, though. She saw the world through Amber’s eyes, felt the comfortable familiarity as she moved around a home, opened the door on a rainy night to find Emerald standing on the other side. From there, it became flashes, as she relived Amber’s death from the woman’s perspective. Then, what must’ve been the first moments of her afterlife, consumed by a blind fury and unable to make out anything aside from vague humanoid shapes.

Following one of them, getting close enough to reach out and wrap her fingers around the figure’s neck, eventually the world coming into focus enough that she could see Nikos’ face as the light left her eyes… 

Yang opened her own to the hospital lobby. “So that’s why… you were angry at your own death… and then killed the person closest to you… so everyone else has to suffer now.”

In the reflection, she saw something flit across the spirit’s expression.

Then, her mind filled again with a different memory, one that she had the other side of for some of it. Amber looming over her, choking her, and she watched herself lose consciousness while Winter continued trying to break down the door, a loud crack and a curse indicating when the woman had broken her shoulder. Suddenly, the scene shifted, and she didn’t see herself lying on the bathroom floor anymore. Now, it was Amber, and even the spirit appeared confused, pulling away just as Winter finally broke through, though her visage flickered and changed. Half the time, it was her girlfriend Winter, absolutely losing her mind as she tried to shake the person on the bathroom tile awake. The other half… it was Nikos.

Yang’s vision returned as understanding settled over her.

“Will you promise me you won’t hurt her?” She fought back tears while drawing a steadying breath. “That’s all I ask.”

Amber nodded.

“Okay,” Yang said, relaxing as a cold shiver washed over her body and the spirit disappeared.

The doors automatically opened as Winter returned. “The cab’s ready. Are you?”

“Yeah,” she replied, getting to her feet and leaving the wheelchair behind. “How long are you going to be in physical therapy?”

“Longer than I’d like.” Her girlfriend sighed. “Having a desk job has made my overall fitness level… less than ideal, which extends my recovery time.”

“Have you thought about taking up a recreational sport to get some added exercise?”

As they approached the cab, Winter raised a brow. “I’ll admit I hadn’t considered it before but it’s an interesting thought. I’m not sure what sport would appeal to me, though, aside from fencing.”

She smiled. “What about volleyball?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... there MIGHT be a sequel...


End file.
